As Kenya prepares to host the 17th African Senior Athletics Championships, the continent's best athletes are having a final tune up, Ghada Abdel-Kader reports from Nairobi Kenya won the bid to host the 17th African Senior Athletics Championships 2010 after hosting the successful World Cross Country Championship, which was held in Mombasa in 2007. The decision was announced in Dakar, Senegal, where Kenya beat Benin to host the event. The secretary general of Athletics Kenya and CEO of the local organising committee, David Okeyo said, "It was a very tough competition -- we won with two votes." The championship will begin Wednesday 28 July and last until 1 August at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi. The motto of the championship is "One continent, One people," illustrating that Africa has come of age and has recognised the need for peace, harmony, competitiveness and development. It is also a reminder for everyone to embrace the spirit of good sportsmanship and good neighbourliness. Okeyo told Al-Ahram Weekly : "In the beginning, the championship was going to be held in Kasarani Stadium at the Moi International Sports Centre (MISC) in Nairobi. But there was an agreement between our government and the Chinese government to renovate Nyayo National Stadium. It had no equipment because it was an old stadium. It was established in 1983. We brought all the equipment needed. We have fixed it." Okeyo added: "The Nyayo Stadium capacity is 30,000 spectators, in comparison to Kasarani's capacity of 65,000 spectators. I think it is more suitable for athletics." Okeyo continued: "The Kenyan government gave us money to start the preparations. We started arrangements in January. We achieved this only in six months, when it is supposed to take two years to organise such a championship. Our budget was $150,000. When we moved to this stadium, the budget went up 100 per cent." A huge gathering of 45 African countries will participate in the five-day event, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Angola, Algeria, South Africa, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, Sudan, Botswana, Senegal, Comoros, Gambia, Namibia, Swaziland, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivore, Congo Brazzaville, Burundi, Gabon, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Eritrea, Togo, Swaziland, Liberia, Gambia, Benin, the Central Africa Republic, Mali, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Tunisia and the host country. Kenya has the biggest contingent in the championship with 123 athletes and over 30 coaches and officials. "As host country we have the privilege to participate in all events. In some events we have two athletes and others we have three in each discipline. At the same time we are very careful all when selecting our team. We are looking for high standards." President of the African Athletics Confederation (AAC) Hamad Kalkaba said, "Kenya is a leading country in athletics. The pride of Africa is athletics in Kenya. Kenya is always among the top five in the Olympics and world championships. More than 45 countries are competing in this championship, but the most important thing we care about is quality, not quantity." Meanwhile, only gold and silver medal winners will be selected to compete for Africa during September's Intercontinental Championship in Croatia. Egypt's delegation consists of 11 men and three women athletes. It is headed by the president of the Egyptian Athletics Federation (EAF), Seif-Allah Shahin, EAF Vice-chairman Mohamed Gheita, technical director of the team Nagi Youssef, and long and high jump coach Salma Shuman. Athletes Hassan Mahmoud, Mustafa El-Gamal, Mohsen El-Anani and Marwa Hussein will participate in hammer competitions. Athletes Mohamed Deif-Allah will participate in the long jump, Karim Lotfi in the high jump, Amr Abdel-Hafez in the triple jump while Ahmed Saad participates in the decathlon event. Ihab El-Sayed and Hanaa Omar will compete in the javelin throw and sprinter Amr Seoud will participate in the 100 and 200-meter races. His personal best time is 10.22 seconds in the 100 metres in 2010. Also he achieved 20.52 seconds in the 200-metre category at the World Students Games in Belgrade in 2009. Athlete Yasser Ibrahim will participate in both the discus and shot put events while Omar El-Ghazali and Sarah Hasib will participate in discus events. Unfortunately, pole vault athlete Nisreen Imam apologised and withdrew from participation due to an injury to her ankle. "The EAF staged a lot of competitions to choose the best athletes in each event. Through their participation in the international, Arab and francophone championships the performance level of the athlete is demonstrated," Shahin stated. He added: "We are proud to be Egypt and Africa champions in all throwing events. Not only in men's competitions, but also in women's competitions. The EAF choose three athletes in the hammer event and discus events. One athlete in each shot pun and javelin competition." "The EAF's training plan has two aspects. The first is training camps abroad. Seoud was in America and El-Ghazali in Europe. Also Lotfi was in training in Germany and Saad was in Mauritius," Shahin stated. "The second aspect is training inside Egypt. We held a training camp for throwing in the Cairo Stadium, under the supervision of technical coach Nagi Asaad. Another training camp for jumping was held inside the Olympic Centre in Maadi, and training camp was held for athlete Omar Shuman at the Police Federation Sporting Club."
