Celebrated sports journalist Elias Makori has been appointed Press Delegate and Media Liaison Officer by World Athletics (WA) to oversee media operations at selected one-day competitions organised by the world track and field governing body.
Makori, a former Lead Editor (Sports and Integration) at Nation Media Group, confirmed the appointment and disclosed that he would be a Press Delegate of the World Athletics’ Wanda Diamond League and Media Liaison at the World Athletics’ Continental Tour series.
In his new role, Mr Makori will assist with preparations of Wanda Diamond League Media Guidelines for 2025 and travel to work at the meetings of the Wanda Diamond League 2025 and also Continental Tour 2025 as assigned by World Athletics. A Press Delegate and Media Liaison Officer basically monitors and evaluates the media operations and all the services provided to media at the meetings of the Wanda Diamond League and Continental Tour.
Makori, who in 2012 was named World Journalist of the Year as World Athletics celebrated 100 years of existence in Barcelona, confirmed he had received his appointment letter from World Athletics’ Communications Department officials Zacharias Vailakis (Head of Media Operations and Project Integration) and Martina Kucherova, the world body’s Senior Manager (Media Operations).
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“This is a great honour, not only to me, but to Kenyan and African sports journalism as a whole. This is certainly one of the highlights of my journalism career,” Makori reacted. “I like to thank World Athletics most sincerely for appreciating the work that we do to promote the sport of athletics in Kenya, Africa and globally. I hope this development will inspire other sports journalists in Kenya and Africa.”
Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei, who is also World Athletics Vice President, congratulated Makori on his appointment. “Congratulations. Very happy for you as the representative of such a large audience. You are equal to the task,” Tuwei said.
The other meetings are: Shanghai, China (May 3), Doha, Qatar (May 16), Rome, Italy (June 6), Oslo, Norway (June 12), Stockholm, Sweden (June 15) and Paris, France (June 20).
Other meetings will be in Eugene, USA (July 5), Monte Carlo, Monaco (July 11), London, England (July 19), Silesia, Poland (August 16), Lausanne, Switzerland (August 20) and Brussels, Belgium (August 22).
This year’s Diamond League Final will be in Zurich, Switzerland, over two days on August 27 and 28.
It would appear that Makori’s departure from the Nation Media Group was a blessing in disguise as he was also recently appointed to the Steering Committee for the 2025 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) and 2027 African Nations Cup (AFCON) in which he is handling media operations for the two tournaments.
Makori has also served as National Press Officer and Head of Media for the WRC Safari Rally (2021-2024) and Press Officer for the Kip Keino Classic World Athletics Continental Tour meeting (2021 to date). He has been replaced at the Safari Rally this year by another veteran journalist, Mr James Wokabi, in changes introduced recently by the Safari Rally’s CEO Charles Gacheru.
Both the World Rally Championship (WRC) and the International Automobile Federation (FIA), that manages global motorsports, highly recommended Makori for his contribution to the WRC Safari Rally.
“Elias’ standing with the wider sporting community in Kenya has been incredibly beneficial to us as the (WRC) Promoter as we aim to extend our impact outside the rallying world. In terms of online media facilitation, the highest compliment possible is the fact that we received no complaints from the (competing rally) teams,” said WRC’s Head of Communications Jared Grellet.
In his decorated career, Makori was named Employee of the Year at NMG twice in 2008 and 2012 and is a three-time Kenya Sports Journalist of the Year award winner.
“My recommendation for next year (2025, is to) secure agreement for the National Press Officer’s role (Elias Makori) at the minimum 3.5 or 4 months ahead of the event in order to start the work on media planning and event preparations,” FIA Media Delegate, Vera Dussausaye, said in her report after last year’s rally, acknowledging Makori’s contribution to the success of media operations at the Safari Rally. However, Gacheru went on to replace Makori.
Makori, 54, holds a Masters in Sports Management from Barcelona’s Cruyff Institute and worked at the Nation Media Group for 32 years before his premature departure in June last year alongside other senior Nation editors Pamella Sittoni and Bernard Mwinzi. He could be among the first African journalists to be picked as Media Delegate and Media Liaison by World Athletics.
In his decorated career, Makori was named Employee of the Year at the Nation Media Group twice in 2008 and 2012 and is a three-time Kenya Sports Journalist of the Year award winner (2014, 2000, 2022). In 2019 and 2024, he was named the Africa Media Personality of the Year by ‘The Voice’ magazine from The Netherlands) and was also named the 2023 Africa Journalist of the Year by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
Kudos for a well deserved appointment. Cheers! As a former colleague at NMG you’ve proved yourself. Don’t stop!