Kenya is known for consistently producing top-notch athletes. Athletics Kenya recently disclosed their final selection for the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games amid suspicions that Nike had influenced their Olympic team. Following the official announcement that this weekend’s Prefontaine Classic will host the Kenyan Olympic Trials in Eugene, Noah Lyles stepped in to criticize the sports organization, harkening back to the 2022 Worlds.

2022 was a murky time for track and field. The Eugene Worlds transpired without a bid and what added fuel to fire was compounded by COVID-19 and the Russi-Ukraine war as well, leading to visa issues for countless athletes. In the grand scheme of things, Kenya also lost the bid to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships due to their subpar infrastructure, further accentuating the limbo plight of track stars. Many critics have been raising concerns over the discrepancies in the Kenyan Athletics. With the Kenyan Olympic trials being hosted just during the upcoming Prefontaine Classic, a popular offshoot of the Diamond League event provoked Noah Lyles’ ire, who was equally wary of 2022 repeating right in front of his eyes.

Noah Lyles slams World Athletics amid brewing Kenyan controversy

Recent track and field news reveals that Athletics Kenya will use the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene to select 10,000m teams for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Prefontaine Classic on May 25 is the only Diamond League meet held on American soil. For the six spots on the Kenyan Olympic team, 12 men and 14 women will be competing in Eugene. Now, American sprint ace Noah Lyles has criticized World Athletics on X: “Why in the world are we hosting another countries Olympic qualifier. We should know how much of an issue this is after worlds 22. Also their country won’t be able so see their athletes make the team in person.”

Kenya’s National Athletics Championships were set to take place at Nairobi’s Ulinzi Sports Complex on May 21 and 22. The reason for the event’s transfer from Nyayo National Stadium was said to be “unavoidable circumstances.” As painfully alluded to, this brings up the 2022 World Athletics Championship problem all over again. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, one of the all-time great sprinters, Ferdinand Omanyala, received his visa at the last minute. He just had a few hours to enter after the document came the day before the race. Records of visas were officially confidential at the time. Hence, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi’s Andrew Veveiros stated, “we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases.”

Track and field world championships are typically held in major global cities, which explains why there are more allegations concerning World Athletics. The biggest competitions in the sport other than the Olympic Games have periodically been held in Rome, Beijing, Moscow, Paris, and London. However, Nairobi, the capital of Kenya and the Africa’s fastest-growing city, lost the bid to host the 2025 meeting. Kenya later chose to submit a second proposal for 2029 rather than 2027 to give itself more time to clear the doping cloud. Furthermore, American agencies have been directly held accountable for numerous incidents in which Kenyan athletes failed to show up for international competitions.

Visa woes for Kenyan Athletes

Kenya has repeatedly outperformed its small developing nation stature in the international sports arena, especially in athletics. The fact that track and field accounted for 93% of Kenya’s 114 Olympic medals earned between 1964 and 2021 is an excellent illustration of this. Even so, years of struggles, issues, and denials of applications for visas due to uunfroseen circumstances are another constant. Athletes and coaches from Kenya are experiencing problems yet again.

World 10000m silver medalist Daniel Ebenyo Simiyu might miss the weekend’s meet, crucial for the Olympics, due to a denial of his visa. As of now, Selah Jepleting, World U20 champion Benson Kiplagat, and world half marathon record holder Loice Chemnung—who is dominating this year—are among the others who have not been granted visas. Kenya had previously used the meet as Trials for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, though the circumstances have changed this time. What do you think could be the reason? Will Noah Lyles’ words come to life?