Eunice Sum wins the Commonwealth gold medal in Scotland. PHOTO/File
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 27 – Eunice Sum, the 2013 World Champion will look to roll back the years when she takes on the task to fly Kenya’s flag alone in the 800m as the 2019 IAAF Championship guns off in Doha on Friday evening.
Sum who missed out on the 2017 showpiece in London will be the first Kenyan in the track on the opening day of the nine-day event.
“I can’t say that I feel my body is in the best shape ever, but at least I feel that I am in good shape to run. It hasn’t been an easy ride to get back into form especially after battling with injury but at least I am grateful that I am in the World Championships. That was my target this year,” the 31-year old stated.
She will be Kenya’s lone athlete in the race after youngster Jacline Wambui pulled out last week due to injury but she says she is not under pressure to perform, saying her target is to run her race.
“It will not be easy especially with the Americans really coming up in middle distance running, but I will have to work hard. I don’t want to talk about the title or any ambitious targets, but for now, I just want to get to the final then give everything from there,” stated Sum.
The Beijing 2015 bronze medalist who has a season’s best time of 1:58.99 has the fastest time in heat two which guns off at 5:18pm .
USA’s Ajee Wilson, bronze medalist from the London Games in 2017 has the fastest time in all the six heats having clocked 1:57.72 with Jamaica’s Natoya Goule also boasting of a quick time this season of 1:57.90.
Meanwhile, Sum says the absence of the first two finishers from 2017, South Africa’s Caster Semenya and Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba will not give her an advantage to fight for the title.
The two have been barred from competing in Doha due to the new DSD rules set out by the IAAF that requires athletes with hyperandrogenism to take drugs or compete at higher distances.
“I don’t think that is a factor. The 800m race is a very tactical race and anyone can win just basing on how you calculate your race,” she stated.
