Sprinter, Ezinn Abba and Hammer thrower, Annette Echikunwoke will miss next month’s World Athletics Championships after both failed to qualify at the USA trials held over the weekend at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Abba, the University of Texas Graduate Student failed to progress beyond the semifinal in the 100m (11.23) and fell at the first hurdle in the 200m (23.30) and will now fail to make her debut at World Athletics’ flagship event in Budapest, Hungary.
The 22 year old who ran lifetime bests of 10.98 (100m) and (22.47) this year to make the entry standard for the championships failed to replicate the form she displayed in the NCAA circuit and will now watch events from Budapest on television.
A year earlier, Abba was on the verge of competing for Nigeria in Oregon but was denied the chance by her failure to complete the mandatory three out of competition tests, OCT, following Nigeria’s categorisation as a high risk doping nation by the Athletics Integrity Unit in 2020.
Abba felt the Athletics Federation of Nigeria should be held responsible for the OCT test and decided to change allegiance back to the USA and her wish was granted by World Athletics on November 21, 2022.
Echikunwoke was also on the verge of making her debut at the Olympics but her failure to also complete the three OCT tests along side nine others cut short her dream.
In anger the 26 old sought for a change of allegiance to represent her country of birth, USA and her request was granted on June 22, 2022, early enough to enable her compete at the 2022 USA trials.
She made the cut and made her World Championships debut in Oregon where she finished 12th in the final categorisation.
Echikunwoke will however not be on the plane to Budapest as a competitor wearing the USA vest.
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