This archive report was first published on 12 May 2020.
On September 26, Nairobi will host the Continental Gold Tour, a major athletics event that was initially suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was initially scheduled for May 2, but has been rescheduled for September 26.
According to Athletics Kenya Executive Committee member Barnaba Korir, who is also the race director, the event will feature 18 gold events lined up for the one-night event at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani.
"I am extremely happy that we have finally confirmed a new date for the Meeting. We now have something to look up to before the end of the season and just before the start of the new season," Korir said in an interview with Capital Sport.
The event will offer a total prize purse of at least Sh21.3mn (US$200,000) for each Gold meeting, providing an opportunity for athletes to earn prize money and assess their training progress in preparation for next year's Olympic Games.
World Athletics boss Seb Coe said, "As we have worked through the challenges posed by the pandemic and the disruption it has caused to our sport, as well as the wider community, our first priority was the health and safety of our athletes. And the next priority has been to find a way to get our professional athletes back into international competition this year as their incomes rely on this."
With the new date confirmed, the Local Organizing Committee will continue with its meetings to plan for a classic event, with Korir saying, "We have been having meetings every two weeks but now that we have a new date confirmed, we need to move faster and continue with the plans so we will be meeting more frequently."
The first Continental Tour Gold meeting of the year, the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, has been scheduled for August 11. World Athletics is still in consultation to fix a new date for the World Under-20 Championship, which was initially scheduled for July in Nairobi.
2020 Athletics Calendar
August
11: Turku – Continental Tour Gold
14: Monaco – Diamond League
16: Gateshead – Diamond League
20: Szekesfehervar – Continental Tour Gold
23: Stockholm – Diamond League
September
2: Lausanne – Diamond League
4: Brussels – Diamond League
6: Paris (tbc) – Diamond League
6: Silesia – Continental Tour Gold
8: Ostrava – Continental Tour Gold
15: Zagreb – Continental Tour Gold
17: Rome/Naples – Diamond League
19: Shanghai – Diamond League
26: Nairobi – Continental Tour Gold
October
4: Eugene – Diamond League
9: Doha – Diamond League
17: World Athletics Half Marathon Championships
17: China (venue tba) – Diamond League
