2023 World Athletics Championships

Today

Men’s 3000m steeplechase heats (12.35pm)

Uganda’s competitors: L. Chemutai

Women’s 1500m heats (2.15pm)

Uganda’s competitors: W. Nanyondo

Men’s 1500m heats (8.05pm)

Uganda’s competitors: A. Mayanja

Women’s 10,000m final (9.55pm)

Uganda’s competitors: S. Chesang & S. Chelangat

Stella Chesang and Sarah Chelangat will take Uganda’s first shot at a medal as the women’s 10,000m final leads the fireworks on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

It is, to be fair, a very long shot for the Ugandan pair, part of an elite class of 26 athletes that also includes reigning 10,000m Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, and reigning 5000m world champion Gudaf Tsegay. Those two will battle it out for the ultimate prize, the Ugandan duo will look to score in other ways.    

Chesang and Chelangat have only the 15th and 17th personal bests in the race, and an improvement in that category would represent a measure of success no matter the final positions. But a top-ten finish would be worth more celebration, while a place in the top eight would be accompanied with financial rewards.

In other words, there is plenty of motivation for Chesang and Chelangat, who are currently 22nd and 44th respectively in the world rankings.  

Chesang won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and finished 14th in last year’s 10,000m World Athletics final in Oregon, posting an all-time best and national record of 31:01.04. Big-stage experience is therefore not Chesang’s problem.

The question is whether, in her first 10,000m race on the track since last year’s Commonwealth Games, she can produce a career-best display. Should she dip below 31 seconds, who knows how high in the standings she would fall.

Chesang has had an active year, competing in the 10k Run in Valencia Ibercaja, the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, and notably at the Haspa Marathon in Hamburg. She has plenty of gas in the tank, but it’s ultimately the tempo that will decide her finishing mark.

As for Chelangat, who ran her personal best (31:06.46) nearly three years ago, the objectives are not dissimilar to Chesang’s. That this is Chesang’s maiden 10,000m race at a major championship, however, calls for lower expectations.

Elsewhere, Abu Mayanja marks his return to the World Athletics Champions six years after making his debut in London. This time, however, he is not running in the 800m but the 1500m, whose heats get underway today. That means Winnie Nanyondo, the women’s 1500 national record holder, also gets her campaign out of the blocks.

Meanwhile, youngster Leonard Chemutai will make his debut at the senior Worlds, running in the heats of the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Chemutai will be the first Ugandan in action at the championship, which the country will be hoping goes down in memory for the right reasons.