A knee injury was the reason world U20 1,500m champion George Manag'oi failed to go past the first hurdle at the World Athletics Championships on Thursday night.
Manang'oi finished tenth in the first round at the Khalifa International Stadium Doha Qatar to see his ambitions of following in the footsteps of his elder brother, Elijah, go up in smoke.
Elijah could not defend his title due to an injury sustained in the build-up to Doha. However, George, who was seen spotting a bandaged right knee soon after the race, tipped silver medalist Timothy Cheruiyot to deliver the gold medal.
"It was my first time to be in the seniors but it did not go as planned. I wanted to sail to the finals but for the last three days, my knee has been aching. The pace was too high to cope with due to pain but I managed to cross the finish line," said George.
"I believe Cheruiyot will carry the day despite the tough competition. I will now focus on righting the few wrongs I made in readiness for the Olympics."
Meanwhile, Winnie Chebet has vowed to join forces with defending champion Faith Chepngetich to curtail Sifan Hassan in the 1500m women's final today.
"Sifan is a threat but we will not allow her to beat us. We will strategise and see how to overpower her. I still have to work on my positioning. I have always been pushed to the inner line where I struggle. We have been discussing with our coaches to see how best we work to retain the title," said Chebet
The 10,000m champion won both the first heat and the semifinals comfortably, edging out Chepngetich but Chebet said that will not scare them.
Sifan beat the trio of Hellen Obiri, Agnes Tirop and Rosemary Wanjiru in the 10,000m race.
