The national trials for the upcoming IAAF World Under-20 Championships got underway on Thursday morning at the Kasarani Stadium in strict conformity to the COVID-19 protocols.

More than 400 young athletes are battling out for tickets to represent Kenya at the global showpiece that will be held here in Nairobi from august 17 to 22.

Athletics Kenya seeks to pick a strong lineup from the trials, according to AK’s director of the Youth Development Committee Barnaba Korir.

“We have put in place systems to ensure that the athletes who have already received invites arrive in Nairobi on time for the trials, and we have already booked the hotels where they will be staying,” Korir said in a statement.

The trials culminate on Saturday with Kenya confident of putting up a stellar show at the biennial event.

“I am convinced that we will assert our dominance in the global event once more. I’m also pleased to report that, in addition to the middle and long distance races, we’ve been given permission to register competitors in categories where Kenya may not have qualified,” he said.

The competition was launched in 1986 by the World Athletics as the IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics but was renamed to IAAF World U20 Championships in November 2015.