Emmanuel Korir speaks after shock exit in World Championships

In Budapest

World and Olympics 800 metres champion, Emmanuel Korir, has attributed his premature exit from the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest to a niggling injury on his left leg.

On Tuesday evening, Korir, who was seeking to retain the title he won last year in Oregon, fell at the first hurdle inside a packed National Athletics Centre in Budapest. He charged to the front of the pack in the fifth heat and stayed with the leading pack but fell behind after 400m to eventually finish sixth in a season-best one minute, 46.78 seconds, missing out on a place in the semi-final.

Afterwards, the 28-year-old said he has not fully recovered from an injury on his left foot which he has been nursing since March.

“I am not entirely disappointed with the results because I was expecting anything to happen. I felt strong and confident that I can run, but sometimes you can’t do it if you have serious injury. I have been nursing a serious injury and I was meant to take a break, but because I had a wildcard, I thought I should just come here and run, and I did my best,” he said.

“The race was not tough. Had I been in good health, things would have been different now,” Korir, who ruled himself out of any competitions this year, said.

“I have had a nerve problem on my left leg, and even the doctors are not exactly sure of what is ailing me. It is a nerve problem, so it will take a while.”

World Under-20 champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi and national champion Alex Ng’eno qualified for the semi-finals. Wanyonyi the first heat in 1:44.92, followed by Frenchman Gabriel Tual in 1:45.10, and  Italy’s Catalin Tecuceanu finished third in 1:45.31 to qualify automatically.

Ng’eno won the third heat in 1:47.63. World 800m silver medallist Algerian Djamel Sedjati and Saúl Ordóñez from Spain finished second and third in 1:47.87 and 1:47.97, respectively, to qualify for the semi-finals from the third heat.

“There was a lot of pushing and pulling in the race. I was forced to kick with 200m to go. I will be careful not to be locked in the inside lane in the semi-finals,” Ng’eno said.

Olympics 800m silver medallist, Ferguson Rotich finished seventh to also exit the championship, saying he developed a muscle pull on his right leg in the last two days, and it did not heal in time for the race.

"I only resumed training today. I am considering running in Brussels and Shanghai legs of the Diamond League. Still, all that is dependent on how my body will feel,” Cheruiyot, whose right leg was heavily strapped, told Nation Sport in Budapest on Tuesday.