Koki, Kisa included in team for Beijing World Championships

National 400m hurdles record holder, Francisca Koki, and 5,000m runner, Janet Kisa, have been included in Kenyan team for the World Championships due August 22 to 30 in Beijing, China.

Koki ran an explosive 55.82 to not only win the national title on July 15 but also improve her own national record time of 55.84 set at the 2014 Africa Championships. Koki set the national record when she won bronze at the continental final.

This enabled her to qualify for the World Championships after surpassing the 56.22 standard but Athletics Kenya failed to name her in the team after the national trials at Kasarani on Saturday.

Koki, 22, is the only Kenya’s representative in women’s 400m hurdles.

“Koki deserves to be in the team for the Worlds by virtue of having qualified,” said head coach Julius Kirwa after including the two athletes in the team on Monday. “A mistake could have occurred during the team naming.”

Lady luck smiled on Kisa, who finished third in the 5,000m race in 15:44.77 during the national trials since other Kenya’s representative, World 5,000m silver medallist, Mercy Cherono, having won the 2014 Diamond League Series. Diamond League winners in 2014 gained automatic qualification for the Worlds.

Viola Kibiwott won the trials in 15:42.58 followed by Irene Cheptai in 15:42.98 to claim the two automatic qualifying slots. Cherono opted to compete in 1,500m where she finished second but the selectors shortlisted her for the 5,000m race.

Consistency is what handed her the opportunity, having won silver in 5,000m at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland in 15:08.90, losing the battle to Cherono (15:07.21).

Kisa, 22, went on to claim bronze at the 2014 Africa Championships in Morocco in 15:54.04, losing out to Almaz Ayana (15:32.72 CR) and Genzebe Dibaba (15:42.16) from Ethiopia. She settled fourth in 3,000m at the Continental Cup that followed the Africa Championships at the same venue in Morocco.

Kisa was also in the World Cross Country teams for the 2013 Bydgoszcz and 2015 Guiyang where she finished sixth and 12th respectively.

Kenya will now have four contestant in the race where their main rivals will be Ayana and Dibaba, who boast of the world leading times of 14:14.32 and 14:15.41 respectively.

The national team that now has 48 athletes and under head coach Julius Kirwa, is set to go to camp on Tuesday at Kasarani stadium.