Absa wires Sh40 million to Kip Keino Classic

Absa Kenya has forked out Sh40 million as their sponsorship for this year’s Absa Kip Keino Classic scheduled for April 20 at the Nyayo National Stadium.

Absa Bank Kenya Consumer Banking Director Moses Muthui disclosed that they have committed Sh30 million to ensure that the World Athletics Continental Gold Tour event is held seamlessly.

Muthui explained that the remaining Sh10 million will be used to activate the fifth edition of the Kip Keino Classic through publicity, hospitality and other promotional events. 

“Athletics and especially Kip Keino Classic is one of our flagship events in sports and we remain committed to this event since it benefits athletes,” said Muthui during their sponsorship launch at the Nyayo National Stadium on Thursday.

Muthui said that they feel proud to be part of the Kip Keino Classic journey of nurturing stars through athletics. 

“This championship event provides a great opportunity for Kenyans to not only watch foreign stars but to also celebrate our very own homegrown talents,” said Muthui, who singled out defending champion Ferdinand Omanyala (100m) and Mary Moraa (800m) whose stories continue to inspire their commitment to the sport.

“We support and empower them in line with our purpose of empowering Africa’s tomorrow together, one story at a time. Their stories indeed matter,” said Muthui.

Absa doubled up their sponsorship for Kip Keino Classic to Sh60 million for the fourth edition of the Kip Keino Classic last year, up from Sh23m.

From the deal, Sh50m went towards the cash prizes and logistics among other things while Sh10m was set aside for the Sirikwa Classic World Athletics Cross Country Tour that was held February last year in Eldoret. 

The package also covered Team Kenya for the Africa Athletics Under-18 and Under-20 Championships held last year in Zambia.

The launch was attended by Athletics Kenya President Jack Tuwei, who is also the World Athletics Vice-President, Sports Principal Secretary, Peter Tum, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya, Gladys Shollei and Kip Keino Classic Meet Director, Barnaba Korir. 

Moraa, the world and Commonwealth Games 800m champion, Omanyala, the Africa and Commonwealth games 100m, champion, and national 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles champion, Wiseman Were were also in attendance.

Tum said the government will continue to give the required support and investment to ensure the success of the Kip Keino Classic, including rewarding our athletes.

Tuwei expressed his gratitude to Absa and other sponsors for working round the clock to ensure that this year’s championship is successful.

Tuwei hopes that Kip Keino Classic will be bigger and better next year, hinting on the possibility of an upgrade to a Diamond League event.

“We have already applied but we continue to be patient since World Athletics has restricted the Diamond League to 14 events and we can only get in if one event is exempted or invalidated,” said Tuwei.

Korir said he is pleased with the rich lineup and promised yet another successful event as he rallied Kenyans to turnout in numbers to witness the event.  

The winners in the core events will pocket $5,000 (Sh650,000), first runner-up $3,000 (Sh 390,000) and second runner-up $2,000 (Sh 260,000). The prize fund trickles down to the top eight finishers.

Winners in additional events will get $3,500 (Sh455,000) with those finishing second and third getting $2,000 (Sh260,000) and $1,400 (Sh182,000) respectively.

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