NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Former Commonwealth and African champion Isaac Makwala is the latest star athlete to sign up for the 2023 Absa Kip Keino Classic, which will be held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on May 13.
Makwala, who won the men's 400m title at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, will compete in the 200m distance, according to the organizers.
The 37-year-old will face stiff competition from American Kyree King, a former collegiate champion, and Aaron Brown, a member of Canada's 4x100m gold-winning team at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene.
"My preparations have been going on well, so on May 13, I will be ready for the Nairobi challenge," Makwala told the organizers from Gaborone, capital of Botswana.
He won the African 400m title twice in 2012 and 2014 and has represented Botswana at the World Athletics Championships a record five times in 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
The decorated Makwala was in the Botswana team that won a bronze medal in the 4x400m relay at the Tokyo Olympic Games and a silver at the 2017 World Relays.
He recorded the fastest-ever one-day double over the 200m and 400m in Madrid, Spain, in 2017.
Kip Keino Classic director Barnaba Korir said more top athletes would be confirmed for the single-day event soon.
Last year, Makwala took the men's 200m bronze in 20.31 seconds behind winner Brown (20.05) and King (20.18).
Two weeks ago, the organizers announced the return of Jamaican sprint icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
The Kip Keino Classic is the third round of the 2023 World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series of global one-day track and field meetings.
It is named after former Kenyan Olympic champion Kipchoge Keino. ■
