African javelin champion Yego out of World Championships, finishes eighth

Kenya's Julius Yego competes in the final of the men's javelin throw athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in London on August 12, 2017. AFP PHOTO

Reigning African champion Julius Yego on Friday bowed out of the ongoing 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA.

This is after the four-time African javelin champion finished eighth in the second group of the qualifiers after throwing 79.60m in the qualifications stage.

Yego needed to throw 83.50m to secure automatic qualification.

German Anderson Peters threw 89.91m ahead of his compatriot Julian Weber who marked 87.28m while Oliver Helander was third after throwing 82.41m in the group.

His season best of 80.62m from the Kenyan trials on June 25 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani saw him qualify for the World Championships through world ranking.

Yego was ranked 25th in the world by the qualifying deadline of June 2, with all the top 30 athletes securing their place in the Worlds.

Yego won silver with his only throw at the 2016 Rio Olympics, a year after making history as the first Kenyan to win gold at the World Championships in javelin.

He made history when he became the first African to win the javelin at the 2015 edition of the World Championships, with a huge throw of 92.72m in Beijing, China. A mark that still stands as the continental record.