Kenya picks lean team for Africa Youth Championships in Mauritius

Kenya named only five girls out of the 22 athletes for the second Africa Youth Championships on Wednesday.

Kenyan officials acknowledged the poor performance of many girls with the Athletics Kenya Vice President Jackson Tuwei saying they will only parade quality at the biannual competition, which is open to athletes aged 15-17 only.

The second Africa Youth Championships will be held in Bambous, Mauritius from April 23-26 with continental giants South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt and Algeria expected to dominate. Over 33 countries are expected to compete.

"We are keen to pick a quality team. The competition will be stiff and we don't want to compete without any chances of winning," said Tuwei. "The girls performance in many categories were below average, and the team we picked will certainly go for the medals."

Two years ago, Nigeria topped the list of medals clinching 33 ahead of Egypt, who had 16 medals. Kenya was a distant fourth with 11 medals from a lean team of 16 athletes.

Top names in the Kenya team include Emily Chebet, and Vincent Kipyegon, who at 16 have already tasted international championships after competing in the Africa Junior competition in Ethiopia.

"I finished fourth in 3000m steeplechase men in Ethiopia, I'm now determined to win gold in Mauritius," said Kipyegon, who won the 2,000m steeplechase race in the Kenyan trials.

The athletes will use the competition as a gauge of their preparedness ahead of the World Youth Championships, which will be held in Cali, Columbia in July. Endite