Mary Keitany, Eliud Kipchoge and Priscah Jeptoo were left out of Kenya's World Championships selection pool. Where will they race this fall?

Athletics Kenya named its provisional marathon team for this summer’s World Championships, and will eventually narrow its list of six men and six women down to the final three who will toe the start line in Beijing.

The biggest names on the list include Dennis Kimetto and Wilson Kipsang, the current and former world record holders, and Edna Kiplagat, winner of the Worlds marathon in Daegu in 2011 and Moscow in 2013, who could target an unprecedented third gold.

WATCH: Driven - Wilson Kipsang (trailer)

“I would love to go for the World Championships if I’m included since I’ve never been there,” Kipsang said after the London Marathon last month. “I’m really happy about my achievement since I’m still at the top. I did a lot of work to break from the group despite becoming second. I have ran the fastest times in six world marathon majors in under 2:05.”

Like the Oscars, the Emmy’s, the MTV Music Awards, or any selection involving subjective opinion, there were snubs.

How the governing body could look past Priscah Jeptoo, winner of silver medals at the 2011 Worlds in Daegu and 2012 London Olympics, or Mary Keitany, the two-time London and New York City Marathon champion, or Sharon Cherop, the Daegu Worlds bronze medalist and 2012 Boston Marathon champion, defies logic.

But this is Athletics Kenya we’re talking about, after all.

Perhaps the biggest omission, however, would seem to be Eliud Kipchoge from the men’s pool. The 30-year-old, who won gold in the 5000m at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, has done nothing but run consistently fast since making his marathon debut two springs ago. Look at these results:

• April 21, 2013: 2:05:30 for the win in the Hamburg Marathon.
• September 29, 2013: 2:04:04 for second behind Kipsang’s world record in Berlin.
• April 13, 2014: 2:05:00 for the win in the Rotterdam Marathon.
• October 12, 2014: 2:04:11 for the win in Chicago.
• April 26, 2015: 2:04:42 for the win in London, beating Kipsang and Kimetto.

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Like Kipsang, Kipchoge, Keitany and Jeptoo all voiced their desire to don the Kenyan kit at Worlds this summer. Now that they know they won’t, here is what the ripple effect could look like on global marathoning this fall.

With Kipsang and Kimetto seemingly out of the picture, it would be plausible for the Berlin Marathon could build its annual world-record attempt around Kipchoge. He has already proven he can run 2:04 flat on the course, and with subsequent lead-time for training and pacers tailored specifically to him, sub 2:03 is possible. Kipchoge’s manager, Jos Hermens, also has a long relationship with the Berlin organizers having also represented the great Haile Gebrselassie, who set three world records in Berlin.

In our eyes, the unpredictable nature of Athletics Kenya would be the only thing that would shift Kipchoge’s landing spot.

READ MORE: Wilson Kipsang Not Beaten By Athletics Kenya In London

Say Kipsang and Kimetto are ultimately left off the team – a distinct possibility when you consider Geoffrey Mutai’s inexplicable omission from the 2012 Kenyan Olympic team – or instead opt for a lucrative turn in one of the big commercial marathons rather than the heat, humidity and pollution in Beijing. Berlin could instead make a play for Kipsang or Kimetto, or go for broke (literally, given what it would cost) on a rematch between the two. That would likely land Kipchoge in New York or Chicago.

On the women’s side, New York City would seem to be a clear-cut favorite to land Keitany. She is the reigning champion, having conquered the Five Boroughs and windy conditions in 2:25:07 last November, and finished third in 2:23:38 in 2011 after setting out on sub-world-record pace. Keitany will also headline the field for the New York Mini 10K in June, further strengthening her ties to the Big Apple.

The ultimate landing places for Jeptoo and Cherop is a bit foggier. Either or both could wind up as the primary target for Chicago, which could build its entire women’s race around them. Should Chicago instead have the opportunity to host American women looking to run a fall marathon and still have recovery time before February’s Olympic Trials, New York could go all in and assemble a super-deep international women’s field with a Keitany-Jeptoo-Cherop duel as the top bill.