NAIROBI, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's delegation will travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina later this month to present their bid status to the IAAF Council meeting for hosting the 2020 World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi.
The bid committee will be led by Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa and Athletics Kenya president Jack Tuwei. The IAAF Council meeting in Buenos Aires will run on July 26-27.
Tuwei has however noted that Kenya will be required to meet several conditions, among them guarantees of government funding, anti-doping measures and provision of specific equipment for junior athletes to win the bid.
"The success of the World Under-18 Championships in Nairobi last year gave us confidence to bid for other events. The IAAF is seriously considering us but we shall have to work hard and plan for the events," said Tuwei on Tuesday.
Athletics Kenya (AK) Youth Development Committee head Barnaba Korir says the country's top performance at the just concluded World Junior (Under-20) Championships in Tampere, Finland and the huge turnout of fans during the 2017 World Youth Championships in Nairobi will boost Kenya's bid.
Korir said Kenya used the junior event in Finland to pitch for support from member federations and IAAF President Sebastian Coe for the rights to stage the elementary competition and believes their effort will be successful.
"The IAAF Council will offer direction on the status of our bid and that will inform what we require to successfully stage the competition," said Korir.
Kenya spent over 20 million U.S. dollars to stage the 2017 World Youth (Under-18) Championships in Nairobi and a similar amount may be required for the next edition of the junior competition.
Kenya is also mooting at the opportunity to host one of the 14 rounds of the IAAF Diamond League meetings.
Currently, Africa has one leg of the premier track and field competition in Rabat (Morocco) with Asia hosting two legs in Shanghai and Doha while the United States of America has only one leg in Eugene.
The other 10 stops are spread across Europe. The organizers will however be required to set aside over 420,000 dollars for prize money alone.
More will be required for the local organization and accommodation. IAAF rules for the Diamond League demands that 30,000 dollars be awarded per discipline with the winner pocketing 10,000 dollars, the second finisher has 6,000 dollars while the third placed athlete takes home 4,000 dollars.
The cash prizes trickle down to the eighth placed athlete who secures 1,000 dollars. There are additional prizes for the ninth to 12th finishers in distance races and ninth-lane runners in the sprints.
This means that each of the current 12 meetings have 14 events with the total prize money required to award the winners equaling 420,000 dollars.
The IAAF Diamond League encompasses 32 Diamond Disciplines and athletes earn points at the each of the 12 meetings to qualify for the final in Zurich or Brussels.
