WU20: Chepchirchir through to women's 800m final
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Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 03.08.22. | 00:43
Damaris Mutunga and Sylvia Chelangat also booked tickets to the women's 400 semis while Elkanah Chemelili grabbed a slot in the semis of the one lap for men
19-year-old Nelly Chepchirchir will fly Kenya's flag in the final of the women's 800m at the ongoing World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Columbia.
Chepchirchir finished third in the second semi, clocking 2:02.03, but qualified as one of the two non-automatic qualifiers and will be hoping to make amends when it matters.
The Kenyan led from the bell, characterized by her long strides, but she could not hold it all the way as Britain's Abigail Ives and USA's Juliette Whittaker muscled her out of the first and second spots respectively.
Qualifiers for the women's 800m final#WorldAthleticsU20
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) August 2, 2022
🇺🇸Juliette Whittaker
🇺🇸Roisin Willis
🇬🇧Abigail Ives
🇨ðŸ‡Audrey Werro
🇸🇮Veronika Sadek
🇰🇪Nelly Chepchirchir
🇦🇺Hayley Kitching
🇪🇹Ksanet Alem
Evaline Kipkirwok, the other Kenyan in the semis of the two-lap race finished seventh despite also being at the front when she took the bell, eventually clocking 2:07.40.
In the men's 400m, Elkanah Chemelili booked a slot in the semis after finishing fourth in the second heat to take up the final automatic spot in that group, clocking 46.69.
The 18-year-old with a personal best of 46.21 will be hoping to produce a similar performance in the semis where he is placed in the second heat set for Wednesday at 5:33 PM EAT, with only the best two getting the automatic spots.
Fastest qualifiers in women's 400m #WorldAthleticsU20
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) August 2, 2022
52.42🇬🇧Yemi Mary John
52.50🇮🇳. Rupal
52.50🇪🇸Berta Segura
52.56🇮🇳Priya Mohan
52.60🇰🇪Damaris Mutunga
52.87🇧ðŸ‡Zenab Moussa Ali Mahamat
53.30🇦🇺Ellie Beer
53.50🇿🇦Precious Molepo
53.53🇳🇴Henriette Jaeger
53.59🇺🇸Mekenze Kelley
In the women's category of the same event, Damaris Mutunga and Sylvia Chelangat booked their semifinals slots after finishing second in their respective heats.
Mutunga clocked a personal best of 52.60 in the second heat while Chelangat stopped the clock at 53.99 in the fourth heat. Mutunga will be in the first semi while Chelangat will be in the third on Wednesday, with gun-off set for 5 PM EAT for the first semi.
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