Athletics Kenya President Lt (Rtd) Gen. Jackson Tuwei has been elected as one of the four World Athletics Vice-Presidents at the 54th World Athletics Congress held in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday 17 August 2023.
Tuwei was elected alongside Ximena Restrepo (Chile), Raúl Chapado (Spain), and Adille Sumariwalla (India), who will also serve as the other vice presidents, with Sebastian Coe retaining the Presidency unchallenged.
He garnered 104 votes, while former Colombian sprinter Restrepo amassed 154 votes, retired Spanish triple jumper Chapado got 119, with former Indian sprinter Sumariwalla getting 115 votes.
New Zealand’s Geoff Gardener picked 96 votes, while Abby Hoffman (Canada), Antti Pihlakoski (Finland), and Nawaf Bin Mohammed Al Saud (Saudi Arabia) got 88, 54, and 46 in that order.
Tuwei is a retired military general and has led Athletics Kenya for the past eight years.
Currently, he serves as the Confederation of Africa Athletics Senior Vice President and President of the Eastern Africa Athletics Region. He is also a member of the World Athletics Global Calendar Committee. Besides being the AK President, he is the chairman of the Sports, Arts, and Social Development Fund.
He has overseen Team Kenya’s participation in major international competitions – two Olympic Games, three World Championships, and two Commonwealth Games.
During his helm, the country came close to becoming the first African country in history to host a World Championship event but it lost the bid to Tokyo.
It was also during his regime that the country hosted the 2017 World Under 18 Championships, the four editions of the Kipchoge Keino World Athletics Continental Tour, and the Sirikwa Classic Cross Country Tour, among other world-class events.
