Kenya's athletics trial is to begin on Saturday in Thika, about 40-km north of Nairobi, to prepare the team for the next year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, athletics officials said here Friday.

Athletes from the country's armed forces, prisons, police and the provinces are expected at the Thika event which will act as a build-up for the games which will be held between March 15 to 26 next year.

"The Thika meeting will be a starting point to identify athletes who will qualify for next year's Commonwealth Games," said Athletics Kenya (AK) publicist Peter Angwenyi.

He said the event is also expected to produce surprises as new athletes are expected to try to steal the show by aiming to meet the Melbourne qualifying standards.

The top runners include world women's junior cross country silver medalist Veronica Nyaruai, and Africa 5000m and 10000m junior men's gold medalist Moses Masai.

Meanwhile, AK has released the qualifying standards for the games. For example, those aspiring to take part in the men's 100m will be required to have posted 10.30 seconds between January 1, 2005 and February 4, 2006.

Kenya will be represented in 12 disciplines, including athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, Paralympics, bowling, sevens rugby, shooting, squash, swimming, table tennis and weightlifting.

A tentative budget of 62 million shillings (about 850,000 US dollars) will also be required for the games. This will cover local residential training, allowances, transport and the competition, among other expenses.

Source: Xinhua