NAIROBI, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's youth coach Robert Ngisirei is hopeful the country will get a chance to atone their past failures and clinch the overall title when they eventually host the World Athletics Under-20 Championships.

Ngisirei, who was in charge of team Kenya in 2017 when they finished fourth in the championships, says hosting the junior competition, possibly in 2021, will offer the country a chance to show the world the growing talent from grassroots and up.

"We had really prepared our minds to be ready to host the biggest teams in Nairobi for the World Under-20 Championships, but we have had to suffer the loss of postponement due to COVID-19," said Ngisirei on Monday in Nairobi.

Now, Kenya is in talks with World Athletics to secure another date for the championships should the coronavirus situation in the world improve and sports competitions are allowed to continue.

Currently, Kenya is under a curfew from dusk to dawn with movement restricted between cities.

But Ngisirei is already looking past the coronavirus and believes Kenya will be ready to challenge for medals when the World Health Organization (WHO) lifts the health ban on people congregating.

"As the hosts, we decided to have some training camps across the country so that we can get the best of the best. And I am sure we will perform well on home soil once normal activities resume," he said.

Ngisirei, who was the coach in Cali, Colombia where Kenya won the overall title in 2015, is optimistic that on May, the disease will be over to enable them to resume training.

Kenya won 15 medals in 2017 and Ngisirei is hopeful they will bag more medals and claim the bragging rights prior to the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games.

"Winning in such events, as a coach, is pure joy. You laugh all the way home. But when you lose, there will be little to talk about as a technical team contingent as a whole," he said. Enditem

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