IAAF to determine Sawe’s fate for London worlds

African and five-time national high jump champion Mathew Sawe hopes of competing at the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships will be determined by the IAAF Technical Delegates.

The body which approves athletes competing in the field events will determine his fate ahead of the biennial global showpiece set for August 4-13 in London, United Kingdom.

According to Athletics Kenya (AK), the 28-year-old Sawe, achieved the 2.25m B qualification standard mark during the National Championships hosted at the Nyayo National Stadium a fortnight ago in Nairobi County.

Speaking to Citizen Digital on Wednesday, AK president Retired General Jackson Tuwei said that they have written to the world athletics governing body expressing their interest in entering Sawe for the event.

“The qualifications for the World Championships started last year October 1 and the African Championships had taken place in June.

“So that does not count but I hope they will consider his performance at the National championships. I also hope that he will be able to jump higher during the trials on Friday to be more convincing to the IAAF Technical Delegates,” said Tuwei.

According to the IAAF qualification system and entry standards, the Area Champion in each individual event contested at the World Championships automatically qualifies irrespective of whether his/her performance has reached the entry standards.

But the rule does not apply to field events where the entry of the athlete is subjected to the approval of the Technical Delegates.

However, the member federation (AK) of the Area Champion (Sawe) has the ultimate authority to enter the athlete or not based on its own domestic standard or qualification and if they enter the athlete, he will be considered as having achieved the entry standard.

Alternatively they (AK) can also organise an event to select an area champion and must give an advance notice of one month to the IAAF.

Team Kenya head Coach Julius Kirwa added that he would like another field athlete to join Rio Olympics silver and World Champion Julius Yego to extend the country’s dominance in the international arena.

“I hope AK will follow up on Sawe. He has already shown that he is an athlete who can perform better if given opportunities.

“His progress is gradual and steady and I believe competing at a major event like the World Championship will not only make Kenya proud but also the entire continent of Africa, since he will be the only high jumper,” said Kirwa.

Last year Sawe was locked out of the Rio 2016 Olympics Games after narrowly missing the B standard mark by 4cm.