Kenya drops not-so-junior runners

Kenyan athletics officials have dropped two runners from the junior squad preparing for next month's World Cross Country Championships in Japan because they are too old.

Robert Ndiwa and Gideon Ngatunyi were too old to compete in the men's junior 8km category, Isaiah Kiplagat, chairman of Athletics Kenya, told reporters.

"We can't entertain cheating in our teams because we have so many talented young runners in our stable," Kiplagat, also a member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), said.

When contacted at the national team camp on the foot of Mount Kenya, a surprised Ndiwa insisted he was born in 1988 and not 1982 as reflected on his birth certificate.

"Maybe the mistake was made at the registrar of births offices," he said.

Ngatunyi said he did not realise he had turned 20. The junior category is for runners aged 18 and younger.