Uganda's Nanyondo through to final, Musagala into semis
Oct 03, 2019
While national 1500m record holder Ronald Musagala switches his attention to Friday's semi-final, Winnie Nanyondo is having her sights set on the podium.
IAAF WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS, 2019
DAY 7: πΊπ¬ UGANDA IN DOHA
• Ronald Musagala raced in Heat 3 of the men's 1500m
• He did 3:36.54 to advance to semi-final
• Winnie Nanyondo was eyeing a place in the women's 1500m final
• She progressed with a time of 4:01.30
By Joseph Kizza
@joekizza
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DOHA | A fruitful day for Uganda on day seven of the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Doha saw Winnie Nanyondo and Ronald Musagala progress to the next round of their respective 1500m races.
First off was Musagala in the men's 1500m heats, with the semi-final being the immediate target.
A 3:30.58-minute runner at his best, the 26-year-old runner from Iganga in eastern Uganda knew all too well that six automatic qualification spots were up for grabs on the day.
He and his rivals in Heat 3 had watched the other groups race, and had the advantage of knowing what to do.
Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen had won Heat 1 with a time of 3:37.67, with the next seven finishers also managing to achieve the 3:37 mark.
In Heat 2, Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot made middle-distance running look so easy when he comfortably beat the field on 3:36.82, his closest challenger, the UK's Josh Kerr, coming through with a time of 3:36.99.
The rest of the pack were a second or more slower.
Then came Musagala's group. It was a quick one, this. In the fastest race of the three-part round, the Ugandan had to kick a little harder to squeeze into a sixth-place finish to avoid the mathematics of establishing the next six fastest finishers.
Uganda's national 1500m record holder will now switch his attention to Friday's semi-final, which starts at 8.05pm Ugandan time.
Meanwhile, Musagala's compatriot Nanyondo is into the final of the women's 1500m after snatching the first of the two non-automatic qualification spots.
On Monday, Nanyondo finished fourth in the women's 800m final, which her teammate Halimah Nakaayi won. Turning her attentions to the longer race this time, the 26-year-old right away scurried to the front of the pack as soon as the starter pistol sounded.
Soon though, Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay would overtake her - and peel away from the group as the race wore on.
The two - Tsegay and Nanyondo - established a gulf between themselves and the rest. But sensing the need to close the gap, the chasing pack pushed in and caught up, with the likes of American Jenny Simpson, Britain's Laura Muir, Kenya's Winny Chebet and Canada's Gabriela Debues-Stafford hot on the two Africans' heels.
Eventually, Nanyondo was swallowed up like a giant wave and had to exercise a measure of patience in the inside lane, before breaking out to chase a qualification spot. She dipped over the line to make the cut - only just.
The final will be on Saturday at 8.55pm Ugandan time.
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