M. KisengeOREGON22: Kenyan trio of Korir, Wanyonyi and Kinyamal advance to the 800m final
Reading Time: 2min | Fri. 22.07.22. | 05:35
Moraa and Korir through to the women's 800m semis
Reigning 800m champion Emmanuel Korir led his compatriots Wycliffe Kinyamal and Emmanuel Wanyonyi in booking tickets to the World Athletics Championships final at the Hayward Field, Oregon on Friday morning.
Korir clocked a season best of 1:45.38 to win heat two ahead of Kinyamal, the reigning Commonwealth Champion who looked comfortable all through.
Emmanuel Korir, Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Wyclife Kinyamal have all qualified for the 800m final.
— Jeff Kinyanjui (@_JeffKinyanjui) July 22, 2022
We pray for the gods of David Rudisha to be with them, a 1-2-3 finish would be great for Team Kenya 🇰🇪 #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/6ENwCqhaZ6
Kinyamal, who won the national trials timed 1:45.49 to lock out Peter Bol who finished fourth in the Tokyo Olympics out of the two automatic qualification slots.
Wanyonyi on the other hand qualified as one of the fastest athletes outside the automatic qualification slots as he finished third in heat three. The 17-year old clocked 1:45.42 to finish behind Marco Arop and Slimane Moula.
World Indoor silver medalist Noah Kibet failed to join the trio to the final after fading to a last place finish in heat two. The world U20 bronze medalist will rue his tactics as he ran out of gas when it mattered most and consequently, relinquished his lead to Djamel Sedjati of Algeria who won the heat.
Earlier on, the duo of Mary Moraa and Naomi Korir booked slots to the 800m semi-finals after prevailing in the first round. African champion Jarinter Mawia was however unlucky as she finished fifth in heat one.
Moraa who was placed in heat six finished second behind the on-form Jamaican Natoya Goule who crossed the line after 2:00.06. Moraa, who will be hoping to advance to the final after settling for the semis in the Tokyo Olympics, clocked 2:00.46.
Korir on the other hand qualified as one of six fastest losers as she finished fifth in heat four. She stopped the clock after 2:01.61.
Both Maoraa and Korir will have their mettle to sail to the final tested in the three semis as the world champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, Olympic champion Athing Mu and Olympic silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson all had an easy time in the first round.
