Nairobi, Jan 11 (IANS): Kenya has received the 2025 World Athletics Championship bidding documents as the country aims for international events after the 2017 youth global event opened a window of opportunities for the country, officials have said.
Jackson Tuwei, president of Athletics Kenya (AK), said Kenya, buoyed by the success of hosting the World Under-18 World Athletics Championships in 2017 in Nairobi, has shown its intention of placing a bid for the senior version of the athletics championships and will also be hosting the postponed World Under-20, from August 17-22 in Nairobi as stepping stone to the senior event.
"It's true, we will be bidding for the championships and we have already received the bidding documents from World Athletics. It will be a huge opportunity if we win the bid not only for Kenya but Africa as a continent," Tuwei told Xinhua news agency on Saturday.
"The bidding is a competitive process, and other countries will also be registering their interests. The country that places the best proposal will win the bid," he added.
Kenya's proposal will be boosted after World Athletics president Sebastian Coe promised last year to give an African country a slot at the world event during his tenure in office.
"We will be meeting with the sports ministry soon and make sure we submit a formidable proposal to win the hosting rights. The documents must be returned before March 1, which means as a country, we must put the documents in order fast before the presentation," Tuwei said.
Apart from 2025, World Athletics Championships is also inviting potential hosts for two other World Athletics Series events, the newly formed World Athletics Road Running Championships and the 2023 World Athletics Relays.
The World Athletics Road Running Championships, which will become part of the World Athletics Series in 2023, will be a week-long festival of road running, featuring the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, the 5km championships and the mass races which will allow participation of recreational runners.
If Kenya wins the prestigious World Athletics Championships hosting rights, the event will boost the local economy, drive sports tourism and improve the sporting infrastructure.