Chengdu World University Games
Dates: 7 August
Events: Men’s 5,000m finals
Venue: Shuangliu Sports Centre Stadium 

1-Benard Simon (France)- 14:14.10
2- Yasuhara Taiyo ( Japan)- 14:14.15
3- Keneshbekov (Kyrgyzstan)- 14:15.13
9- Yeko Dismas (Uganda)-  14:23.14

Uganda’s Yeko Dismas was on the verge of winning a double at the Chengdu FISU World University games, however, physical exhaustion coupled with other factors, denied him that achievement.

For the Ndejje University student, finishing 9th in the 5,000m was indicative that he was not meant to win.

“I am not disappointed with my position at all. I know I did my best today,” Yeko stated.

“Also, this was not meant to be my race. I just stepped in to fill the gap because Uganda did not have someone to compete, so I took the opportunity,” he quoted.

“Besides that, I was very fatigued. I tried increasing the speed in the last laps but then I ended up losing a lot of energy,” Yeko added.

Yeko Dismas won Uganda’s only gold medal in the men’s  10,000m finals at the Chengdu FISU games. 

Benard Simon of France

Before the men’s  5,000m finals, Yeko had hope that he could win a double.

“Obviously, after qualifying for the finals, I thought I had in it me to win,”.

“I love running because it is my passion and that alone motivated me,” Yeko stressed.

Busenei Wilson is the only Ugandan athlete to win both the 10,000m and 5,000m at the 2005, Izmir Turkey Summer University games.

France’s Benard Simon, who took the first position in the men’s 5,000m finals by an inch of 5 seconds from Japan’s Yasuhara Taiyo, explicitly to Vision Sport that he is happy to finish his university career with a gold medal.

“This is my last year at the University and am so happy that am finishing with a big win like this one,” Bedard said.

“The race was too tight. There was no gap to run but I made sure I kept in the first three positions,” he added.

Bedard Simon who is majoring in Masters of Business Administration at  California Baptist University emphasized that studying is as important as being a sports person.

“I have been at University for almost ten years, and at the same time doing my sports,” Bedard stated.

Bedard added, “The reason why am doing both academics and sports is because you can not just depend on one thing. Education can help you achieve other things on the side,”.

Earlier on, Uganda finished fourth in the men’s half marathon with Chelimo Isaac and Cheptegei Sam scoring their personal best, 1.06.10 and 1:06:13 respectively. 

In addition to yesterday’s races, Aciru Knight missed out on the podium smoothed off in the 8th having qualified for the women’s 1500m in the second position.