World Cross-country Champs in Kampala

UAF general secretary Beatrice Ayikoru makes a presentation during the IAAF Council meeting in Monaco. COURTESY PHOTO

KAMPALA. 2017 will be a very busy sporting year for East Africa. Kampala will be the venue for the World Cross-country Championships with Nairobi staging the World Youth Championships.
Both cities were selected during the IAAF Council meeting in Monaco on Tuesday.
Uganda beat Bahrain to earn hosting rights for the cross-country event, coming to East Africa for the second time after Mombasa 2007.
The Ugandan bidding team, which was led by sports minister Charles Bakkabulindi, rode on the ongoing construction of a high altitude centre in Kapchorwa and government’s willingness to finance the event. President Museveni in March facilitated the Africa Cross-country Championships at Kololo Airstrip and has promised to bankroll the world event, according to the bidding team’s presentation.
The biggest challenge for Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) during the Africa Cross-country was attracting corporate sponsorship and they will be hoping to do better in that area when more than 700 athletes descend to Kololo Airstrip.
Another letdown at the Africa event was failure to attract spectators due to high ticket prices with the most expensive selling at Shs100,000. Uganda has enjoyed tremendous success in cross-country with Moses Kipsiro the most successful runner.