Dar Es Salaam — THE national athletics team is expected to leave for Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday for the Senior African championships 2010 rescheduled from Wednesday to August 1, this year.

Athletics Tanzania (AT) Secretary General, Suleiman Nyambui told reporters on Monday that the local team will comprise of 24 runners. He was optimistic that the team will reap medals and that for the first time they have incorporated athletes who will feature in field games - discus and javelin.

"We tested the discus and javelin athletes in various competitions and concluded that the youngsters are determined to win accolades and hopeful they will," he said.

Meanwhile, Security has been beefed up in Nairobi as the city prepares to welcome over 1,500 athletes and officials who will be arriving for the Africa Athletics Championship.

Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairman Isaiah Kiplagat said the recent bomb attacks in Kampala, Uganda which targeted fans watching finals of the football World Cup had forced the government to raise the security level status.

Teams from neighbouring Uganda, Burundi and Ethiopia, nations that have sent peacekeepers to Somalia, are said to be targeted by Somali militant group that claimed responsibility for the twin blasts in Kampala.