No wild cards for London Worlds

Kenya's Geoffrey Kirui wins the 121st Boston Marathon on April 17. [AP]

Kenya’s squad to the 16th IAAF World Athletics Championships will be picked next Friday and Saturday.

For the first time, athletes need to be in their best form as there will be no wild cards in the invitational meet at Nyayo Stadium.

AK President Jack Tuwei said top three finishers will pick automatic tickets to the London gala on August 4-12.

“We will take the first three athletes in each race. We also discourage them from doubling in races. It’s good for them to take a particular race and focus on it.

“The deadline for entries will on Saturday (June 24) midnight and that’s after the trials. So there is no athlete who will seek qualifying times from then on,” he said.

Tuwei said they were working closely with Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (Adak) to ensure drugs cheats are caught.

“We have issues with out-of-competition tests, but we have worked with Adak well. They are moving fast. In fact, Adak has contacted their counterparts in Japan, USA and The Netherlands for out-of-competition tests in those countries and the diaspora. And we can confirmed that they have done the testing,” he said.

On the marathon squad, Tuwei dispelled claims that Kenya’s challengers have selected a fairly strong line up.

“There is no cause for alarm. We have the best athletes and they are doing good work at their residential training camps in Naiberi and Kaptagat. Let’s not cross the river before we reach there,” he said.

The Kenyan team features Geoffrey Kirui, Paul Lonyangata and Daniel Wanjiru as well as two-time world champion Edna Kiplagat, Purity Rionoripo and Helah Kiprop.

Ethiopia has named Berlin Marathon winner Kenenisa Bekele, 2014 Dubai winner Tsegaye Mekonnen and Olympic bronze medalist Tamirtat Tola. World silver medallist Yemane Adhane and Mule Wasihun are the reserves.