National sprints coach Stephen Mwaniki has revealed that AK will hold special relay trials on April 11-12 as the country races against time to secure slots at the World Athletics Relays set for May 10-11 in Guangzhou, China.
Only the top 16 nations will secure qualification for the World Relay Championships, a crucial step ahead of the Tokyo World Championships later in September.
So far, only the mixed 4x400m relay team has secured qualification for the Championships in Guangzhou, China.
Mwaniki emphasized that the two-day selection event will exclusively focus on the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams, ensuring they meet the April 13 qualification deadline.
“Our main focus will be pushing the men’s and women’s 4x100m as well as the 4x400m for both men and women to secure qualification for China,” Mwaniki noted.
The men’s 4x100m is currently ranked 18 with a time of 38.61 set at the Nyayo Stadium last year while the 4x400m team is ranked 19th with a 3:02.34 time set in Douala, Cameroon. Meanwhile, the women’s teams are ranked 54th in the 4x100m and 29th in 4x400m.
The 4x400m mixed relay squad is already within the qualification bracket, ranked 10th with a time of 3:11.43 set last year at the Nyayo Stadium.
Mwaniki noted that having already secured qualification, they will not emphasize the mixed relay.
“We will not be so keen on the 4x400m mixed relay since we have already secured qualification by our rankings after the Paris Olympics.”
“However, we will also conduct the trials in the event to beef up the team,” Mwaniki added.
The trials will feature a two-day competitive structure. The first day will see individual sprints in the 100m, 200m and 400m with selectors analysing performances before forming relay teams for competition on the second day.
The trials will be by invitation, ensuring only top contenders compete for slots.
“The trials will be by invitation. Day One will see athletes race in their categories in the 100m, 200m and 400m and see how they perform. We will then group the top three in various teams.”
“On Day Two, various teams will compete against each other as we chase qualification for China. So the two-day event is purely for the relays,” he added.
For the times to be World Athletics-approved, Kenya will have to compete against regional teams to boost competition.
“So that our qualification may be approved, we will compete against our neighbours, including Uganda and South Sudan,” he added.
Mwaniki stressed the need for early preparation and a strong women’s squad to boost Kenya’s chances on the global stage.
“If you want athletes to perform well, then they need to have been in training for at least three weeks,” he said.
“We want to get good female runners for our relays and also improve on the men’s teams.”
Kenya’s relays have shown steady progress, particularly after their solid performances in Paris, but Mwaniki warned of growing global competition.
“We are coming up nicely in the
relays. Our performance in Paris
was really good, the Olympics are
a big stage, and if we did not perform well, then we would not have
had our mixed relay squad already
qualified."
