Two athletes from Kazakhstan's track and field team made it to the World Championships finals in the United States, QazMonitor reports citing Olympic.kz.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Norah Jeruto finished first in 9:10.54. She is the main favorite for the gold medal in the tournament.
In the same event, Daisy Jepkemei came in 19th, with 15 athletes qualifying for the main event.
The women's high jump also hosted its qualifying round. Kazakhstan's Nadezhda Dubovitskaya managed to qualify for the World Championships finals. Kristina Ovchinnikova sadly dropped out.
Maria Efremova was not able to perform her best in the triple jump and fell short of the World Championship.
A busy day included the women's 10,000-meter final where Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui represented Kazakhstan. The athlete finished in seventh place, setting a new country record at 30:17.64.
While the new record by Chepkoech is impressive, the most discussed question is whether Norah Jeruto will win the final on Wednesday.
What to expect from Jeruto's performance?
Looking at the start list for the finals, Jeruto dominates in personal best stats at 8:53.65. This is almost 3 seconds faster than the second best time on the list - a Kenyan runner from Bahrain - Winfred Mutile Yavi (she finished fourth in the heats). Nonetheless, Yavi's 8:56.55 is also her seasonal best result, while Jeruto's figure is just under 8:58.
In the most recent interview with letsrun.com, Jeruto admitted that the finals will not be easy, giving a surprising shoutout to the aforementioned Yavi, as well as Emma Coburn (US) and Peruth Chemutai (Uganda).
Why were Jeruto's picks surprising? In the qualifying heats, Coburn's result was almost 14 seconds slower than the Kazakhstani athlete and Chemutai finished even 'later' at 9:16:66.
Was it Jeruto being humble and appreciative of rivals, or did the athlete speak from the experience? It's hard to tell now, but the finals on July 20, at 19:45 will promise to reveal all.
According to Jeruto, when offered an invitation to Altay Athletics club back in 2017, the sportswoman agreed without much hesitation:
"I really enjoyed it in Kazakhstan, and I will do my best to make our project successful."
