Athletes who are yet to register with Athletics Kenya (AK) have been urged to do so now before the December deadline.
Kennedy Tanui, coordinator of the countrywide registration programme, said the process will continue at the federation’s Eldoret and Nairobi offices until December after which they shall shift focus to upcoming athletes.
“The grace period for those who are yet to register is until December this year. From January next year, our focus will shift to upcoming athletes. We urge all those who are yet to register to come out in numbers and do so. Those who will not have registered will not be able to compete in local competitions,” Tanui said.
The registration, geared towards enhancing seamless provision of services by AK, has been ongoing for the past three months across the country.
It also seeks to maintain an up-to-date database of Kenyan athletes including their date of birth, place of birth, residence and training camps, among other details.
Tanui is further optimistic that the registration will go a long way in preventing age cheating and doping offences, among other issues afflicting the sport.
“We are doing this to ensure that age manipulation and cheating becomes a thing of the past. We are working closely with other agencies such as the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) and the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU),” he said.
The exercise, which commenced in Iten on August 24-30, has so far registered 3, 794 athletes across the country.
Iten has thus far recorded the highest number of athletes — 1,020 — followed by Kericho with 790.
The team is currently camped at St Vincent Pastoral Center in Kisii Town where 70 athletes were registered on Wednesday.
On Thursday, they will be at Riooga SDA Secondary School in Nyamira County before heading to Mawego National Polytechnic in Homa Bay, the next day.
Saturday will be the turn of Kisumu and Siaya Counties — at Social Hall and Mlaha Primary School respectively — before heading to the Mumias Sports Complex in Kakamega on Monday and Tuesday.
The exercise will then conclude in Nyahururu, Nyeri, Machakos, Ngong and Nairobi.
