World U20: Cherotich wins steeplechase gold
Kenya's Faith Cherotich celebrates with the flag after winning the women's 3,000m steeplechase final at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia on August 5, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The fast-paced race saw Cherotich cross the line in 9 minutes, 16.14 seconds ahead of Ethiopians Sembo Almayew (9:30.41) and Meseret Yeshanew (9:42.02) who came in second and third positions respectively
- The Form Three student at Kalyet Secondary School in Kericho County improved on her performance from last year when she bagged bronze in the same event in Nairobi
- In the women’s 400m race, Damaris Mutunga bagged silver after clocking a national under-20 record of 51.71 seconds in a race won by Great Britain’s Yemi Mary John
Faith Cherotich stormed to victory in the 3,000m steeplechase race at the ongoing World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia on Friday morning.
The fast-paced race saw Cherotich cross the line in 9 minutes, 16.14 seconds ahead of Ethiopians Sembo Almayew (9:30.41) and Meseret Yeshanew (9:42.02) who came in second and third positions respectively.
Kenya's Damaris Mutunga poses on the podium with her gold medal during the medal presentation ceremony for the women's 400m event at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia on August 5, 2022.
Cherotich ran a brilliant race setting a fast pace that the rest of the field couldn’t match.
The Form Three student at Kalyet Secondary School in Kericho County improved on her performance from last year when she bagged bronze in the same event in Nairobi.
“I had a lot of pressure and my plan was to run a fast pace and drop the competitors at an early stage and when I saw the gap was widening, I controlled my pace because I also wanted to run good time. When I saw Sembo Almayew’s time of 9:09.19, I knew I had to do something at an early stage and I’m happy it worked well for me,” said Cherotich.
Pamela Kosgei came in a distance fifth place after clocking 10:06.46.
In the women’s 400m race, Damaris Mutunga bagged silver after clocking a national under-20 record of 51.71 seconds in a race won by Great Britain’s Yemi Mary John who clocked 51.50 while India’s Rupal settled third in 51.85.
Mutunga is a Form Three student at St Martins Secondary School in Masinga, Machakos County and trains under coach Dennis Muthusi.
“My experience has been good here and the climate has been good for running. I’m happy to have clocked my personal best in the event,” said Mutunga.
Mutunga improved on her personal best by two seconds over the three days of the Championship having entered into the competition with 53.71 before she lowered to 52.60 in the heats, 52.29 in the semi-finals and then her new record time in the final. She broke Mary Moraa’s record which was set in 2019.
In the men's 400m hurdles race, Peter Kithome failed to qualify for the final after emerging third in his heat in a Season's Best time of 50.84. Puerto Rico’s Yan Manuel Vazquez (50.37) and Sonny Gandrey (50.59) of France were in first and second positions respectively.
The top two athletes in each of the three heats as well as two non-automatic qualifiers proceeded to the final.
