Former world 800m champion Eunice Sum was the first Kenyan to qualify into the second round of the World Athletics Championships that got underway in Doha, Qatar.
The former 800m Diamond League winner finished 4th in the second heat to qualify into the semifinals following her win in Moscow six years ago.
She finished in a slow time in a heat won by USA’s Raevyn Rogers (2:02.01) followed by Shelayna Oskan-Clarke (Great Britain, 2:02.09) and Morgan Mitchell (Australia, 2:02.13) to finish in 2:02.17.
United States star Ajee Wilson won heat 1 in 2:02.10 with Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi second in 2:02.33 while Norwegian Hedda Hynne 2:02.49 finished third to seal the other automatic qualification slot
Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo had the fastest time in the six heats, winning Heat 3 in 2:00.36 to launch her bid for the title. Nanyondo led from gun to tape in a race she controlled well.
Jacob Krop was the only Kenyan who manged to make the cut into the finals of men’s 5,000m.
Krop finished second timing 13:24.94 behind Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega (13:24.69) and ahead of Muktar Edris (13:25.00) for top positions.
Additional information Daily Nation