Kenya's Chepng'etich to skip Shanghai Diamond League meet

Commonwealth Games women's 1,500m champion Faith Chepng'etich of Kenya will skip the Shanghai leg of the Diamond League meeting in China on May 17.

"I will not be running in Shanghai. It is because I am not ready. I have just started running again after pulling out of the Kenya team to World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang China in March because of an ankle injury," Chepng'etich told Xinhua from Eldoret on Tuesday.

"The injury is now healed after seeing a specialist in Amsterdam. But I will not be ready for Shanghai. I am planning to launch my track season in Eugene, Oregon on May 29," she said.

Chepng'etich is planning to compete in the 1,500m race at the World Championships in Beijing in August. She was in Moscow worlds in 2013 but finished a distant fourth.

Also missing out will be world junior 3,000m champion Mercy Chebwogen, who is yet to recover from a joint injury that she picked up in training in Nakuru, Kenya, reports Xinhua.

Chebwogen is also returning from injury and will take time to shake off her rust. But she is expectant about pitching for the World Championships in Beijing in August.

In the absence of the duo, Shanghai meeting organisers have assembled a strong team in the 5,000m race that will be led by world cross country women's champion Agnes Tirop.