Kipsiro wins gold, Museveni phones
Sep 16, 2011
Moses Kipsiro bounced back from a spell of inactivity and bad results to win the All Africa Games 5000m gold medal Thursday night.
By James Bakama and Norman Katende in Maputo
Moses Kipsiro bounced back from a spell of inactivity and bad results to win the All Africa Games 5000m gold medal Thursday night.
Kipsiro stretched Uganda’s medal tally to seven as he defended his All Africa Games title here last night.
Kipsiro clocked 13 minutes 43.09 seconds to give his country its fourth gold in the slow but tactical race in the Zimpeto National stadium.
Kipsiro, like Negesa in the 800m on Tuesday, applied his trademark finishing sprint to the tape. He thereafter attributed the victory to God.
Well aware that his opponents were weary of his presence, Kipsiro ran a cautious race. He kept behind and only moved to the front pack with four laps to go. It is at that point that everyone close to him wanted to block him.
“They knew the kind of runner they were up against and did everything to block. At one point I was tripped but ws lucky not to fall down.â€
“I thank God. It was his will. With Jesus nothing is impossible. He led me through the race,†said Kipsiro, who not only registered his biggest victory this season, but also defended the title he won at the 2007 edition of the games in Algiers.
Kispsiro had reason to thank God. He has for months been battling malaria and typhoid in his home in the Elgon Ranges in Eastern Uganda. Last month he pulled out of the World Championships and the Maputo event. He only announced at the last minute that he would run here.
Museveni called to congratulate him. SEE here
Uganda had earlier lost a bronze as the organizers ruled that the women’s triple jump be repeated because of poor officiation. Sara Nambawa who had won bronze had pulled out of the repeat due to injury.
Earlier, Annete Negesa's attempt at a double the same night failed, as she was stepped on early in the race and limped off in the 1,500m final.
President Yoweri Museveni had early yesterday created excitement in the Ugandan camp when he called from Kampala to congratulate the All Africa Games team.
He first spoke to captain Florence Amono, first in English before he tried Alur.
“Congratulations for the performance. It has been good and I will meet you when you come back and we talk more,†the president told Amono before asking to speak to Annet Negesa, a gold medallist in the 800m.
She spoke the longest and kept her calmness, at one time telling the president that: "now we know that you support sports."
Moses Kipsiro bounced back from a spell of inactivity and bad results to win the All Africa Games 5000m gold medal Thursday night.
Kipsiro stretched Uganda’s medal tally to seven as he defended his All Africa Games title here last night.
Kipsiro clocked 13 minutes 43.09 seconds to give his country its fourth gold in the slow but tactical race in the Zimpeto National stadium.
Kipsiro, like Negesa in the 800m on Tuesday, applied his trademark finishing sprint to the tape. He thereafter attributed the victory to God.
Well aware that his opponents were weary of his presence, Kipsiro ran a cautious race. He kept behind and only moved to the front pack with four laps to go. It is at that point that everyone close to him wanted to block him.
“They knew the kind of runner they were up against and did everything to block. At one point I was tripped but ws lucky not to fall down.â€
“I thank God. It was his will. With Jesus nothing is impossible. He led me through the race,†said Kipsiro, who not only registered his biggest victory this season, but also defended the title he won at the 2007 edition of the games in Algiers.
Kispsiro had reason to thank God. He has for months been battling malaria and typhoid in his home in the Elgon Ranges in Eastern Uganda. Last month he pulled out of the World Championships and the Maputo event. He only announced at the last minute that he would run here.
Museveni called to congratulate him. SEE here
Uganda had earlier lost a bronze as the organizers ruled that the women’s triple jump be repeated because of poor officiation. Sara Nambawa who had won bronze had pulled out of the repeat due to injury.
Earlier, Annete Negesa's attempt at a double the same night failed, as she was stepped on early in the race and limped off in the 1,500m final.
President Yoweri Museveni had early yesterday created excitement in the Ugandan camp when he called from Kampala to congratulate the All Africa Games team.
He first spoke to captain Florence Amono, first in English before he tried Alur.
“Congratulations for the performance. It has been good and I will meet you when you come back and we talk more,†the president told Amono before asking to speak to Annet Negesa, a gold medallist in the 800m.
She spoke the longest and kept her calmness, at one time telling the president that: "now we know that you support sports."