Kasarani Stadium is set to be closed from Monday, March 16 as works begin to improve facilities ahead of two upcoming international tournaments.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, March 11, Sports Kenya announced that the main stadium, warm-up and training fields would be shut down.
The facility is expected to host the World Athletics Continental Tour on May 2, 2020, and the World Under-20 Junior Athletics Championship from July 7-July 13, 2020.
A Ksh332 million budget has been approved by the government as preparations to host the event intensify.
Fears had been raised over the slow pace of preparations when a team from World Athletics visited Nairobi to inspect facilities in Nairobi 2019.
Michael Rabar, chief executive of the organizing committee for the championship, promised that the team would work around the clock to meet deadlines ahead of the anticipated championship.
"The next inspection tour is in February. We will have done what World Athletics want us to do and hopeful meet their expectations," he asserted.
World Athletics awarded Kenya rights to host the U-20 Junior Athletics Championships in 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In some quarters, the event is seen as an audition as Kenya made no secret of its desire to become the first African country to host the World Athletics Championships in 2025.
Kenya was buoyed by its successful hosting of the World U-18 Championships in Nairobi in 2017.
The event was hailed as the 'best ever' edition of the U-18 Championships, particularly with attendance records broken when Kenyans thronged the Kasarani Stadium filling it to capacity.
“By hosting an outstanding final edition of the IAAF World U18 Championships last year, Nairobi demonstrated its readiness to take the next step as a championship host,” the IAAF, now World Athletics, noted in 2019.
