Kenyan athlete unable to compete at World Junior Championships due to passport abnormality
Chepkorir will not make the trip to Finland, as her passport incorrectly identifies her as a man
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Mercy Chepkorir of Kenya will be left out of the World Junior Track and Field Championships due to an abnormality in her passport. Chepkorir will not make the trip to Finland as her passport says she is male, not female. She was supposed to compete in the 3,000m.
Presumably, the athlete was required to submit her passport to the Finnish embassy in Nairobi in advance of her travel. Chepkorir reportedly did not know it was rejected until Friday, making it impossible to launch a new application. The Kenyan athletics officials regret that they didn’t catch the mistake earlier.
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Chepkorir’s position has now been taken by Zena Jemutai, who won the Kenyan trials. The women’s 3,000m finals are at 12:55 p.m EDT on Wednesday, July 11th.
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The World Junior Championship is some of the strongest running in track and field. Thirty-two of Canada’s up-and-coming athletes are set to compete in the meet.
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The meet begins tomorrow with the men’s 1,500m heats at 3:25 a.m. EDT. Canada’s Charlie Dannatt will compete against Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Ingebrigtsen is the third-seeded runner in the event, coming off an astonishing 3:52 mile at the Prefontaine Classic.
Grace Fetherstonhaugh and Laura Dickinson will run the 3,000m steeplechase heats at 2:20 a.m. EDT. OFSAA medalists Aurora Rynda and Hayley Walker will race the 800m heats at 4:00 a.m. EDT.
In women’s 400m action, Sharelle Samuel and Ashlan Best will run the heats at a more manageable 9:50 a.m. EDT.
The long distance events run straight finals. Two lucky Canadians will run on day one of the competition, and then get to cheer and explore Finland for the remainder of their trip. Marie-Lyssa Lafontaine runs the 5,000m final at 10:40 a.m. EDT, and Max Turek runs the men’s 10,000m final at 11:50 a.m. EDT.
You can catch the event on CBC Sports, via live results or on social media.
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