Nairobi — Former world marathon record holder Paul Tergat has predicted a neck-and-neck race at the Safaricom Sports Personality of the Year Awards (Soya) gala scheduled for the Kenyatta International Conference Centre Thursday.

Owing to the successful run Kenyan teams and sports people have had over the year, the Soya patron noted, it will be a tough task for the panel of judges sieving through the nominations to come up with the winners. "It is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Their performance is certainly at par; only minor details - like being a team player, discipline levels, or if the achievement was for the country or individual glory," he said.

Track and field athletes have dominated the awards for the past six years, but Bismack Mutahi, chairman of the panel of judges, says other sports disciplines have upped the ante and that, for the first time, athletics is having to play catch-up.

"Soya is not about track and field. We are about discovering and honouring the best talent across the board. You will see some unique performances being rewarded; they all did us proud. But this does not mean track and field weighed below expected standards," he said.

Other sports disciplines are also targeting the coveted top prize. Take karate fighter Gregory Oluoch, for instance. The winner of gold, silver and bronze medals at the World Championships is spoiling for a fight against fans' favourite - and probably Kenya's best scorer in the Sevens International Rugby Board (IRB) series - Collins Injera.

Also in the fray are World Athletics marathon champion Abel Kirui, swimming sensation Jason Dunford and World 3,000m steeplechase supremo Ezekiel Kemboi.

Women's crown

Doreen Nabwire, the first Kenyan to secure a professional football contract in Germany, World Cross Country champion Florence Kiplagat, karateka Carolyne Tollo, World 5,000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot and World 10,000m queen Linet Masai will be vying for the women's crown.

At stake is the Sh150,000 top prize that is viewed as the ultimate in local sports, a year's bragging rights and an opportunity to a brighter career as the country's best sports personality. Past winners include Janeth Jepkosgei, Samuel Wanjiru, Catherine Ndereba, Pamela Jelimo and Alex Kipchirchir.

Western Province dominates the schools' category which, for the first time, will be considered separately. It has three teams in the top five girls' schools and two in the boys' category.

St Cecilia Misikhu (hockey), Mukumu (handball) and Lugulu (volleyball) will fight it out with Cheptil (volleyball) and Shimba Hills (basketball) for the top three girls' schools places while Kamusinga (hockey) and Kakamega High (rugby 15s) do battle with Laiser Hill (basketball), Cheptil (volleyball) and Langata (football) for the boys' prize.

The 10 schools are among 18 nominees for the award. Laiser and Shimba are the East African and national secondary schools basketball champs, respectively.

Safaricom has sponsored the annual event with Sh7 million; National Bank of Kenya gave Sh1 million. Supporters include Nokia Siemens Networks, local Chinese communications firm Huawei Technologies, and Communication Commission of Kenya, who have each chipped in with Sh500,000.