Nakaayi, Leni, and Banura advance to semi-finals in Glasgow

Halima Nakaayi (800m), Shida Leni (400m), and Maureen Banura (400m) have all advanced to the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games following successful heats at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.

Halima Nakaayi finished third to qualify for the semi-finals of the women's 800m on Monday night in a heat won by England's Georgia Hunter Bell, although it was far from a straightforward race for the Ugandan.

"The most important thing was to qualify for the semi-finals by finishing among the top three. The weather has not only been cold for me but for all of us. The most important thing was to qualify," said Nakaayi.

Nakaayi has endured a difficult few years and will no doubt be relieved to have secured her place in Wednesday's semi-finals.

Shida Leni and Maureen Banura also progressed from their respective 400m heats, although their times were not particularly impressive. They will have another opportunity to book places in the final when they compete in Wednesday's semi-finals.

In the women's 10,000m final, Team Uganda was left to reflect on what might have been as Esther Chebet could only finish fourth.

Missing out on a medal in the women's event is a cause for concern, especially in a race that did not feature many of the world's leading athletes. Uganda has traditionally performed well at the Commonwealth Games, with its best showing coming in 2018 on the Gold Coast, where Stella Chesang and Mercyline Chelangat won gold and bronze respectively.

All three Ugandan athletes were within striking distance of the bronze medal, but none of them could get past Rwanda's Rose Niyonkuru. It also highlighted shortcomings in the team's race strategy. Joy Cheptoyek did much of the early work by helping to set the pace and, when it mattered most, simply did not have the legs left to challenge because she had already done much of the hard work.

These are worrying times for Uganda because neighbouring countries are investing heavily in athletics. The competition is no longer coming only from Kenya but also from the likes of Tanzania and Rwanda.

On Wednesday, Peruth Chemutai will be in action in the women's 3,000m steeplechase final and remains Uganda's best hope of winning an athletics medal. She will line up against world champion Faith Cherotich, as well as the winner of last month's Prefontaine Classic, in what promises to be one of the standout races of the championships.

Commonwealth Games athletics

Results

Women’s 10000m Finals

R. Davies AUS 31:39.32

D. Wanza KE 31:50.13

F. Niyonkuru RWA 31:55.47

E.  Chebet UGA 31:55.70

L. Ryan AUS 31:59.41

J. Cheptoyek UGA 32:01.92

Wednesday

Womens 800m 10:06pm

Halima Nakaayi

Women’s 3000m steeplechase final 11:35pm

Peruth Chemutai