Aron Koech replaces Nicholas Bett in London games
World 400m hurdles champion Nicholas Bett trains at Safaricom Stadium on January 24, 2017. His position in the World Championships competition has been taken by Aron Koech after he was injured. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Koech had been dropped from Team Kenya on Friday after the IAAF competition system failed to capture his name.
Athletics Kenya has picked Aron Koech to replace injured World 400m hurdles champion Nicholas Bett in the World Championships in London.
Athletics Kenya president Jackson Tuwei said that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had accepted Koech to replace his brother Bett.
IAAF FAILURE
Koech, the Africa 400m hurdles bronze medallist, had been dropped from Team Kenya on Friday after the IAAF competition system failed to capture his name alongside that of triple jumper Elijah Kimitei.
Koech had attained the World Championships qualifying time on July 16 in Podova, Italy, where he clocked 49.39 but his name was not captured when the final entries were made on Monday.
"We are happy that the IAAF has agreed to replace Bett with Koech. We shall still follow up on Kimitei’s case but things don’t look good," Mr Tuwei said.
"I am so happy...God is great," Koech said.
The competition is slated for August 4-13.
BEIJING
He vowed to bring home victory despite going it alone for the first time since the 2015 Beijing World Championships and 2016 Rio Olympic Games, where he partnered with Bett and Olympic 400m hurdles silver medallist Boniface Mucheru.
Mucheru is also injured.
Koech lost in the semi-finals in Beijing before reaching the final at the Rio Olympics to land seventh place overall.
