Kenyan athletes, led by world 800m champion Mary Moraa have staged a protest after Athletics Kenya revealed that they were forced to only pick one athlete from each discipline for the African Games in Accra, Ghana.
Scores of athletes were left unhappy with the move by the Kenya National Sports Council which gave Athletics Kenya the lowest quarter of athletes to be sent to the African Games scheduled for Accra, Ghana.
Speaking during a press conference last week, Athletics Kenya Senior Vice President Paul Mutwii noted that the move was arrived at due to financial constraints.
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The move means that AK will be forced to pick one formidable athlete from every discipline in order to give athletes from every sport a chance to take part in the event. At the time, Mutwii insisted that the move would not affect the performance of athletes.
However, the athletes are not happy with the decision and have staged a protest, led by World 800m champion Mary Moraa, at the Nyayo National Stadium.
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As per Capital Sport, Commonwealth Games 800m champion Wycliffe Kinyamal explained that they ask to have the top three best athletes picked since they have to consider the upcoming athletes. “I wouldn’t mind giving my slot to a young athlete but let’s be fair with the selection criteria,” Kinyamal said.
On his part, Kenya National Sports Council (KNSC) Andrew Mudibo asked the athletes to draft a petition stating clearly what they want and present it to Athletics Kenya.
“Afterwards, they (AK) will present it to us and then we will present it to the government to see what can be done,” Mudibo said.
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During the previous edition of the event in 2019, Kenya managed to send 61 athletes who represented the country well and jetted back with 20 medals (10 gold, 7 silver, and 3 bronze).
Athletics Kenya explained that other sports disciplines like boxing have also been given a limited number hence they could not ask for more slots.