Heart-break for Kenya after Cheptoo fails to start in discuss

Discus Vivian Cheptoo during IAAF World U18 Championships at Kasarani Stadium on Tuesday 11/07/17.Boniface Okendo/standard

It is heartbreaking for an athlete to register a Did Not Finish in a race.

It is worse when they register a Did Not Start (DNS) in a high-profile competition like the ongoing IAAF World Under-18 Championships at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

The pain is further compounded when one realises that all their energy and preparations will count for nothing on D-day.

This was the quagmire Kenya's sole representative in the girl's discus event, Vivian Cheptoo, found herself in. She registered a DNS.

None of the Kenyan officials could immediately explain why the upbeat Form Four student of Akshar Secondary School in Sotik failed to take part in the mid-morning event.

Her three-week training session was blown away in that brief moment of insanity. The catastrophe forced team coach Kariuki Gikonyo to call for a crisis meeting yesterday evening as he demanded to know what had happened to the athlete.

"I have been told Cheptoo failed to show up at the call room ahead of the event, which led to her disqualification," said Gikonyo. "I don't understand how we can come with an athlete to the stadium then she fails to show up for her event. I am demanding an explanation from her field coach and those in charge of guiding the athletes to their areas of participation."

There were also constant changes to the championship timetable, which caused confusion among the coaches and athletes after some countries failed to show up.

Alter timetable

"Personally, I have been forced to alter my timetable four times following the changes to the schedule," the coach said.

Nicholas Mureithi, Kenya's coach in charge of discus and other field events, said he could not immediately give reasons why Cheptoo did not compete.

The athlete, who could not be traced in the stadium, failed to respond to our calls or messages.

Cheptoo began competing in the sport last year, after she was introduced to it by her brother, Bernard Rono, who is also her training partner.

It is this personalised training that earned Cheptoo a place on the national team after she made a 31m throw during the first national trials in Eldoret.

But it was not all smooth for Cheptoo as she had a difficult time convincing her teachers to let her compete in the games.