Economic difficulties and general civil unrest had never allowed this to happen.

The Chinese helped provide the necessary funds and manpower to begin building Kasarani Stadium, but too late to hold the games on schedule.

A torch was relayed from Nairobi to the Kenyan coast, the Kenyan highlands and back to Nairobi where World Champion John Ngugi carried it into the stadium in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 80,000.

At the closing ceremony, the torch was passed to Cairo, Egypt to begin preparations for the Vth All-Africa Games in 1991.

*   Host nation (Kenya)Three athletes, two female and one male, won more than one event: In addition, Nigeria won all four relay races; 4x100 metres and 4x400 metres for men and for women.