Cheptegei wins Africa Junior gold, Aneno and Chesang Bronze

Mar 08, 2015

Uganda bagged a gold and two bronze, a day before the final race at the Africa Junior Championships in Addis Ababa.

By Norman Katende
 
Africa Junior Athletics Championships

Women 5000m final
1 Etagegn Woldu (ETH) 17:02.71
2 Sintayehu Lewetegn (ETH) 17:03.87
3 Stella Chesang (UGA) 17:04.91
 
Men 10000m final
1 Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) 29:58.70
2 Davis Kiplagat (KEN) 29:59.32
3 Gunessa Ferkansa (ETH) 30:02.38

Men 1500M final
1 Anthony Kiptoo (KEN) 3:43.98
2 Gilbert Kwemoi (KEN) 3:44.59
3 Regasa ketema (ETH) 3:44.92
9 Geoffrey Balimumiti (UGA) 3:55.07

Women 800m final
1 Chaluti Regasa (ETH) 2:09.20
2 Kole Nagaho (ETH) 2:09.61
3 Suzan Aneno (UGA) 2:11.73
6 Esther Chebet (UGA) 2:22.70
 
Uganda has now bagged a gold and two bronze, a day before their final race at the Africa Junior Championships in Addis Ababa.
 
Stella Chesang came third in the 5000m to snatch bronze Saturday, a day after Joshua Cheptegei sprinted to the finishing line to win Gold in the 10000m.
 
Stella Chesang
 
Cheptegei excited the thousands of Ethiopian fans, who changed their support and  gave him a standing ovation at the Addis Ababa stadium, as he won a gold medal in the 10000m Africa Junior championships on Friday night.
 
Suzan Aneno also won bronze in the junior women 800m action in a race where compatriot Esther Chebet finished in 8th position, while World youth Championship silver medallist Geoffrey Balimumiti finished in 9th place in the 1500m final.
 
The police athlete was on course, and ran a well-planned course to break the monotony of  Kenya and hosts Ethiopia in the long distance, as he kept   closer, not burning himself until the last home stretch that he outsprinted to victory to add the continental medal to the World junior gold medal he won last year in Oregon.
 
"It was a Crazy finish in men's 10000m with athletes from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in contention before Uganda's Cheptegei blasted off like Bolt to win," summed up the Athletics Africa correspondent on the event that climaxed the day's programme.
 
Cheptegei has promised that he was more settled, and though he promised not to lose his focus at the World cross country championships, left promising a good performance in both the 10000m and 5000m.
And despite the crowd supporting Ethiopia's duo of Gunessa Ferkansa and Mulu Alem, Cheptegei had other plans, forcing an increase in the pace after 18 laps as the contest remained amongst three runners.
 
However, going to the last lap, Ferkansa broke off and it remained a battle between Kenya's Davis Kiplagat and Cheptegei until the penultimate stages when Cheptegei sprinted to victory.
Cheptegei is looked at as one of the new breed of distance running in Uganda and he is also the national junior cross country champion.
 
The final race of the championship involving Uganda will be today, Sunday -  the men's 5000m.

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