Korir on the cusp: Athletics Kenya officials expected to announce final squad to Guiyang

Japhet Kipyegon Korir of Kenya reacts at the finish line of the senior race of World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on March 24, 2013.

Japhet Korir, the reigning world cross-country champion, could be dropped from the national squad to the 41st IAAF World Cross-Country Championships that runs in Guiyang, China, on March 28.

Korir, who finished 48th in the national trials at Uhuru Gardens last month but given a lifeline through the coaches' wild card, is fighting for a slot on the final team. He is fighting it out with Geoffrey Kamworor, Bedan Karoki, Moses Mukono, Bernard Barsoton, Philip Langat and Joseph Kiptum.

"As a defending champion, the selectors wanted to give him a chance just like they did with Emily Chebet. I do not know if he will make the cut," said coach Sammy Rono.

The team is in residential camp at St Marks Teacher's Training College in Kigari, Embu.

Athletics Kenya officials will visit the camp today and perhaps name the final squad, especially the 12km men's squad, which has seven athletes – one extra from the six entered for the national team.

The IAAF rule allows a country to enter eight athletes but only six will compete while the top four will score. Korir, who stunned the world by becoming the youngest world cross-country champion, aged 20, in 2013, said he was ready to stage a good show if granted a lifeline to Guiyang.

"I have trained well. I will give it my best if I get selected to the team," said Korir, who received $30,000 (Sh2.55 million) at the world cross-country championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in 2013.

Korir, who is the second teenager to win the 12km race after Ethiopia's multiple-record holder Kenenisa Bekele, has finished in IAAF Permit European meets in Alcobendas, Spain, and Edinburgh, Scotland, this season.

About 450 runners from over 45 countries will be battling for honour in Guiyang. A blunder from the start or getting tripped mid-way could make the difference between winning and losing.

Kenya and Ethiopia are far and away the most successful countries in the world championships' history, winning 120 of the 159 available team titles.

The two nations have met 121 times where both have fielded full teams, with Kenya beating Ethiopia 79-42. Kenya has won five individual senior women's titles and expect to re-affirm their supremacy in Guiyang.

Coach David Leting must, however, wonder if his efforts to polish the team will be enough to give them ammunition to stop the invasion of 20-year-old Muktar Edris of Ethiopia, who is already faster over 5,000m than Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebreselasie when they were that age.

Still, an optimistic Leting said, "We have prepared well here. We want to get same performance we had in Bydgoszcz (2010 and 2013). I know we can make it."