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From: B-Haile (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Thu Feb 17 2011 - 18:28:26 EST
'Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, Uganda, Mauritius, Malawi, South Africa, Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria and Botswana beat the Feb. 11 deadline to submit their entries.'
13 countries confirm participation in Africa cross country championship
08:21, February 17, 2011
A total of 13 countries have confirmed participation in the inaugural Africa cross country championship in Cape Town, South Africa next month.
David Okeyo, who is the vice president of the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) and Athletics Kenya Secretary-General, said they target to get 15 countries as a start and hope the numbers will balloon from next year.
"This is an inaugural event and we are eying to sensitise the continent on taking their athletes to South Africa to compete. But it will pick up momentum next year and that is why even if we get just 15 countries, we will go ahead and stage it," said Okeyo.
Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, Uganda, Mauritius, Malawi, South Africa, Rwanda, Burundi, Nigeria and Botswana beat the Feb. 11 deadline to submit their entries.
"We are still expecting some. Like was the case of Africa Athletics Championships, some teams never entered their names during the time specified yet showed up when the competition started," said Okeyo.
Kenya will be selecting their team of 16 to the continental championship on Saturday during its explosive national trials. Uganda, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates and Sudan will send athletes to take part in the national cross country championship in Nairobi.
Organisers, Athletics Kenya, have confirmed all arrangements have been complete to stage the event, one of the few in Africa that serves as a leg of the IAAF cross country meetings.
Over 300 invited athletes are expected to take part in the event.
AK secretary general David Okeyo said Sudan, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates and Uganda will all be sending their athletes to Nairobi for the meeting, in which Kenya will use to select its two teams to World and Africa Cross Country Championships.
"This is a weekend meeting that is only open to entry through invitation. But we might listen to a few special cases of athletes who skipped the local circuit or provincial championship and have valid reasons," said Okeyo.
The meeting will have four races on card - 6km junior women with 60 athletes, 8km junior men has 66, 8km senior women has 90 registered while 12km senior men has attracted 96. The top four across the line will clinch automatic tickets to the World cross country championship in Spain on March 20.
However, two slots will be filled through the coaches wild card decision based on past performances, consistence and position during the trials.
The Africa cross country championship will be held in Cape Town, South Africa on March 6. The athletes will be selected from those who will finish in the top 20 positions.
"We are taking this event seriously because from next year, it will be staged in alternative years and serve as the biggest in the season for cross country. We want to pick out our mark early and defend the position later next year," said Okeyo.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779/90869/7290313.html
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