Chesang sets new junior record

Uganda’s Stella Chesang finished fourth at the IAAF World Junior championships with a new national junior record at the IAAF World Junior championships taking place in Eugene.

Chesang clocked 15 minutes 53.85 seconds to come home behind the Ethiopian duo of Alemitu Haroye and Alemitu Hawe and Kenyan Agnes Tirop .

Tirop was a world junior cross-country silver medallist in last year’s event in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Alemitu Heroye and Alemitu Hawi of Ethiopia cross the finish line to finish first and second respectively in the women's 5000m during day two of the IAAF World Junior Championships. Photo/AFP

Chesang had gone into the competition with a boost after Joshua Chepetegei’s earlier gold medal win and a number of Ugandan athletes in America who had travelled all the way from the different states to support Team Uganda.

She managed to hung on with the eastern Africa counterparts even when the Japanese duo of Fuyuka Kimura and Maki Izumida took an early lead, like what their male counterparts did in the men 10000m.

However this did not take long as Agnes Tirop and country mate Loice Chemnung together with the Ethiopian duo of Alemitu Haroye and Alemitu Hawe surged forward to dictate the pace after the half way mark.

The two Ethiopians then escaped from the chasing pack and by three of the 12 and half lap race to go, it was already known that the gold and silver were heading to Addis Ababa and the only question was who of the two would win it.

Haroye ended up taking it after outsprinting Hawi with Tirop coming in third, over 27 seconds behind the winner followed by Uganda’s Chesang, who shelved off and advancing Kenyan Loice Chemnung to win in a time of 15 minutes 53.85 seconds.