Athletics Kenya CEO Isaac Mwangi (left), AK vice president, David Okeyo, (second left), followed by AK president, Lieutenant General (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei and vice chairman, Paul Mutwii.PHOTO/Raymond Makhaya
NAIROBI, November 12 – The public will be given an opportunity to vote for their choice of top runners of the year at the 2015 Athletics Kenya (AK) gala that will be held December 10 in Nairobi, organisers announced on Thursday.
This year’s event theme is “top of the world uniting Kenyans” driven from the country’s splendid performance at the 2015 IAAF Beijing World Championships where they topped the world with 7 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze
“We do intend to engage the public in terms of voting and contributing towards who becomes the eventual winners in each category. We are working on a partnership with a media house that will televise the event live,” AK CEO Isaac Mwangi declared when launching the event.
However, drug cheats will not be honoured with Mwangi assuring AK will not relent in fighting the vice that saw the whistleblower who sparked the global investigation into doping in Russian athletics calling for the sport’s authorities to also look at countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia.
“Amongst the rules of nomination is that the panel will not consider anyone who has been implicated of convicted in doping but the fact that an athlete has failed Anti-doping test doesn’t mean that they are going to be convicted of a doping offence so there is a procedure which has to be followed,” the CEO asserted.
World champions, Asbel Kiprop (1500m), Ezekiel Kemboi (3,000m S/C), David Rudisha (800m) Nicholas Bett (400m Hurdles) Julius Yego (Javelin), Vivian Cheruiyot (10,000m) and Hyvin Kiyeng (3,000m S/C) are in the long-list for the Male and Female Athletes of the Year Awards that will see athletes feted in 12 categories.
Also to be considered are the World Youth Championships athletes who finished second with 13 medals (5gold, 4silver and 4 bronze) and Africa teams for the Youth and Junior championships.
Last year the event was cancelled due to logistical issues after Eldoret hosted it in 2013.
-Categories both men and women-
Outstanding performance of the year
Comeback Award of the year
Cross Country Award of the year
Road running Award of the year
Field athlete of the year
Long distance athlete of the year
Middle distance athlete of the year
Sprinters of the year
Young athlete of the year
Athlete of the year