Nairobi was one of 10 cities selected to form part of a pilot year for the World Athletics Continental Tour in 2020 back in January.

The Kenyan capital was scheduled to host the first leg of the series on May 2, but the coronavirus pandemic has forced a series of changes to the calendar.

The updated Continental Tour is now scheduled to begin on August 11 at Turku in Finland.

Nairobi is preparing to host its leg of the series on September 26, with organisers saying the event will be known as the Kipchoge Keino Classic, after the Kenyan athletics great.

Keino won 1,500 metres gold at the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games, before winning the 3,000m steeplechase title four years later in Munich.

He also won two Olympic silver medals, three Commonwealth Games gold medals and two African Games titles in his career.

Keino was among the first athletes inducted into the World Athletics Hall of Fame, while he was awarded the Olympic Laurel at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony for his service to the Olympic movement.

The 80-year-old became a state witness in a corruption case involving six men accused of misappropriating public funds during Rio 2016.

The former chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) had initially been charged, but charges were later dropped with Keino becoming a witness.

"The committee has settled on Kipchoge Keino Classic as the name of the Nairobi meet in honour of athletics legend," event director Barnaba Korir said, according to Kenya newspaper The Standard.

"We are glad and privileged that he has accepted the honour.

"We have also designed the logo for the event, which will be unveiled soon.

"We have been in touched with various race organisers across the global to ensure we have a successful event.

"We are conscious of the international travel restrictions put in place by different countries, but hope that by September they will have been eased."

The 10,000m race at the Continental Tour event in Nairobi has also reportedly been named after Kenyan legend Naftali Temu.

Temu won Kenya’s first Olympic gold medal over the distance at Mexico 1968.