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Japan Withdraws From Nairobi World U18 Championships Over Security Concerns

On June 12 the JAAF announced that it is withdrawing its team from the IAAF World U18 Championships [formerly World Youth Championships] scheduled to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in July. In light of security concerns about Kenya and the situation regarding other countries' participation, the JAAF executive committee made the decision to pull out on the 12th.

The United States had previously announced it would not participate due to the dangers of crime and terrorism perpetrated by Islamic extremists. Great Britain, Canada, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand are also not participating for the same reasons.

At the last edition of the Championships in Cali, Colombia in 2015, Japan's Hakim Sani Brown attracted global attention when he won the 100 m and 200 m.

Source article: 
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20170612/ath17061219110005-n1.html
translated by Brett Larner
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