The men’s 400m event at the forthcoming World Championships in London will be missing a key competitor in Grenada’s Kirani James, who has been ruled out of the showpiece.
The 24-year old won Bronze behind Wayde Van Niekerk at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, and Silver at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Incidentally, he finished ahead of the South African at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, taking GOLD while Van Niekerk claimed Silver.
James hasn’t been very active this season as his last competition in 2017 was the Drake Relays where he finished 6th in 46.21s, his slowest time in almost a decade. He has a Season’s Best (SB) of 45.44s set on his home soil in April.
According to the President of Grenada Athletics Association Charles George, the London 2012 GOLD medallist is recovering from an ailment, and isn’t fully back to training.
George said, “He is recovering from his illness and he will not be participating in World Champs 2017 in London. He is just doing some simple work outs and the nature of the 400m is that you can’t just come up and do it; you have to prepare, and he is certainly not ready for that event.”
James is one of only nine athletes to win the World Championships at Youth, Junior and Senior levels. He won the world title at the 2011 Championships in Daegu, becoming the youngest 400m World Champion at the age of 18.
He is Grenada’s first Olympic medallist in any sport, after striking GOLD in the men’s 400m at London 2012.
