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An Uplifting Performance by
Kenya's Juniors
Following the less than spectacular performance by Kenya at the last
Olympics and World championships, there has been genuine concern about the
performance of Kenya athletics on the world stage especially given the
number of athletes who have opted to defect to the Middle East. But the
performance of Kenyan athletes at the 2006 World Under 19 championships
where they finished at the top of the standings left smiles on the faces of
many Kenyan fans. It proves once more that there is an endless pipeline of
distance running talent in Kenya. Even more uplifting was the performance of
the girls who for the first time matched and even surpassed the performance
of their male counterparts. More important is that fact that Kenya won more medals than traditional powers like the USA, Russia, hosts China and Great Britain. In fact Kenya won more medals than
all of Western Europe combined !
Credit must go to Athletics Kenya (AK), to all the national coaches and to all
the grassroots who identified this latent talent. Now the task is on Athletics Kenya to ensure that this talent does not go
to waste. Awarding scholarships is a good start but more important is to put
these youngsters on specific training programs and continue to monitor the
progress. The best way to do this is to award all of them scholarships to
attend a school like St Patrick's Iten and Singore girls, tow schools that
have a tradition of nurturing young talent. A qualified coach should then be
assigned to each of these schools to train them.
Secondly, it is worth noting that Kenya came within 4 hundredths of a
second of winning the bronze medal in the boys 4 * 400m relay. What this
proves is that there is sprint talent in Kenya. Athletics Kenya should bring
in a consultant to train local coaches in how to train for sprints and field
events. Further refresher courses should be done on a yearly basis. Kenya should not simply concede the sprints and field events. It is worth noting that a significant portion of the sprints were won by Eastern Europeans. This defies the notion that only people of West African decent can dominate the sprints. It comes down to training.
Final Standings
Only the top 15 nations are listed
| Rank |
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
 |
|
1 |
KENYA |
6 |
6 |
3 |
15 |
|
2 |
PR OF CHINA |
5 |
5 |
7 |
17 |
|
3 |
UNITED STATES |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
4 |
RUSSIA |
4 |
3 |
3 |
10 |
|
5 |
ESTONIA |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
6 |
JAMAICA |
2 |
1 |
5 |
8 |
|
7 |
ETHIOPIA |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
|
8 |
AUSTRALIA |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
9 |
BULGARIA |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
11 |
GERMANY |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
|
12 |
FRANCE |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
|
13 |
ROMANIA |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
14 |
GREAT BRITAIN & N.I. |
1 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
|
15 |
POLAND |
Highlights of the meet
Tenth consecutive Steeplechase title for
Kenya
Saturday 19 August 2006
| Willy Rutto Komen of Kenya shoved
off an impressive 14 seconds off his personal best
to clock a new Championships record of 8:14.00 to
win the men’s 3000m Steeplechase final. The 2005
African Junior champion sprinted away from Bahraini
Tareq Mubarak Taher (A Kenyan defector) coming off
the last barrier as the two had sprinted shoulder to
shoulder for the last 200 metres.
Taher claimed silver in 8:16.64 with Komen’s
team-mate, Bisluke Kipkorir Kiplagat, the World
Youth silver medallist, coming back from no-where to
overtake Morocco’s Abdelghani Ait Bahmad for bronze.
It was a new personal best of 8:18.11 for
Kiplagat and a new National Junior record for Ait
Bahmad.
It was Kenya’s tenth consecutive World Junior
steeplechase title!
|
 |
|
Bisluke Kipkorir Kiplagat
and Tareq Mubarak Taher in the 3000m Steeplechase
|
Caroline Tuigong
Emulates the men
Caroline Chepkurui Tuigong of Kenya
improved on the two-year old 3000m
Steeplechase Championship record as
she sprinted away from Romania’s
Ancuta Bobocel in tonight’s final.
Running bare feet Tuigong clocked
9:40.95, more than twenty second
faster than the time she possessed
before entering these championships.
Bobocel also improved her PB by
almost three seconds to a new
European Junior record of 9:46.19.
It wasn’t as happy an ending for
early race leader and pre-event
favourite Mekdes Bekele Tadese who
had to be content with a bronze
medal, her 9:48.67 time not
reflecting her true value.
Bekele took a 10m lead until the
last lap. But that is when drama
struck as Bekele heavily hit the
barrier and struggled to recover her
momentum. Evidently affected by her
incident, she lost ground and even
struggled to regain her tempo.
Bobocel took the lead for the
first time with 250 metres to go;
Bekele could not respond. In the
final bend, a very fast finishing
Tuigong who had evidently overcome
her mid-race crisis, sped past
Bobocel towards Kenya’s second 3000m
Steeplechase title of these
championships.
In fourth, Polina Jelizarova of
Latvia set a new natioal Junior
record of 9:58.76 while Norwegian
Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal also set a
new national Junior standard of
10:00.44 in fifth.
|
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|
The "tough
as nails" Caroline
Chepkurui Tuigong of Kenya clears a water obstacle
during the women's 3000m steeplechase final |
Jelagat from ‘gun to tape
| It is
rare that any middle distance race
at a major championship falls to a
‘gun to tape’ winner. As had
occurred with a number of finals
this week, we watched a parade of
talent by the winner of the women’s
1500m, Irene Jelagat, this evening.
As the bell sounded we expected
the field to close on the
17-year-old - who when starting
tonight had a personal best of
4:12.32 - especially considering
that she had dictated the pace since
the start, and that the small
following her included Japan’s
Yuriko Kobayashi, who with 4:07.87
was the fastest of the entrants. But
contrary to expectation Jelagat
increasing went away from her
pursuers in thr last 400m producing
with a 60 second last lap, winning
in 4:08.88 (PB). Mercy Kosgei was
second (4:12.88), with Kobayashi
taking bronze by a whisker from
Ethiopia’s Emebet Bedada – 4:12.88
to 4:12.94.
Back in sixth there was a
national junior record for Serbia
(4:16.20) via the feet of Azra
Eminovic
|
 |
| Irene
Jelagat of Kenya crosses the finish
line to win the women's 1,500 m |
Veronica Nyaruai and
Pauline Korikwang go 1-2
Kenyan
runners
Veronica
Nyaruai
Wanjiru and
Pauline
Korikwiang
took gold
and silver
respectively
of the
women's
3,000m race
at the IAAF
World Junior
Championships
here on
Saturday.
Wanjiru
and
Korikwiang
were in a
leading
group of
four when
the last lap
started.
Wanjiru
crossed the
finish line
first in
nine minutes
and 2.90
seconds,
followed by
Korikwiang
at 9:05.21.
Chinese Song
Liwei
clocked a
personal
best time of
9:06.35 to
capture a
bronze.
Wanjiru,
the
Marrakech
youth
championships
winner in
3,000m, said
she had not
expected to
win the
gold.
"My
teammate
must be a
little
disappointed
when I
passed her
from the
third to
first. She
was supposed
to claim the
gold medal
and I was
supposed to
follow her
and claim
silver or
bronze. But
I won. I am
so happy,"
said the
16-year-old.
"My best
distance is
3,000m. I
want to win
the gold in
5,000m in
the 2008
Beijing
Olympics,"
she said.
|
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|
 |
Daniel
Rudisha - Following in his
father’s footsteps
David Rudisha used to proudly show his son Daniel,
when he was younger, the silver medal he won as a
member of Kenya’s 4x400 metres quartet that finished
second at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Now,
Daniel has something special to show his father when
he returns to the family home in Kilgoris in Kenya’s
Rift Valley, a gold medal for finishing first over
800m at the 11th IAAF World Junior Championships.
Daniel, who stands 1.88 metres tall and whose
elegant and fluid style reminds one of the gazelles
that frequent Kenya’s national parks or the past
master over two laps of the track 1988 Olympic
champion Paul Ereng, showed that he is a chip off
the old block by sprinting past the opposition on
the inside and securing victory in the final 30
metres.
He became the seventh Kenyan to win the men’s
800m on a global stage at this level.
|
 |
| David Lekuta
Rudisha of Kenya in action in the men's 800m semi-final (Getty
Images) |
Brave Winnie Chebet takes 800m silver
Winny Chebet, second last year at
the World Youth Championships in
Marrakesh, one of the youngest
athletes in the championships being
born on 20 December 1990, seemed
like she could improve on her silver
but she was out-dipped by Cristea
2:04.52 to 2:04.59.
15 year old Winnie Chebet ran a personal best of
2:04.59 to win the silver medal. Its an incredible
time for a girl of her age. Hopefully she will be
back in 2 years time to claim the gold.
She finished ahead of hot favourite Rebekah Noble
of the USA who is a college sophomore and NCAA
champion.
|
 |
| Chebet was leading with 50 meters to go |
Ndiwa takes the Men's 1500m Final
| 18-year-old Remmy Limo
Ndiwa of Kenya out-sprinted defending World Junior
champion Abdelati Iguider of Morocco to win the
men’s 1500m final in a season’s best time of
3:40.44. Ndiwa positioned himself in the front
from tape to finish leading a very compact pack of
12 men through 800m in 2:01.45 and through 1500m in
3:01.84. His tactics contrasted with the Moroccan’s
who decided to remain at the back of the pack,
flanked by compatriot Fouad Elkaam, until 450 metres
to go.
Iguider made a move as the pack approached the
bell and ran level with the leaders, Ndiwa just a
metre ahead of him.
As the athletes entered the final straight, Ndiwa
and Iguider launched their kick. It looked like the
Moroccan had a better finish but the Kenyan didn’t
give in. Although they touched a few metres from the
line which resulted in Iguider giving up the chase,
there was no illegal move from the Kenyan who could
finally savour the win.
Belal Mansoor Ali (A Kenyan defector now running
for Bahrain), the World Youth champion was third in
3:41.36. |
 |
| Ndiwa outpaced his Moroccan rival |
Jebet Kiplagat and Wacera Ngugi take silver and Bronze
The first day of
competition at the
11th IAAF World
Junior Championships
here in Beijing
ended with a
dramatic battle
between China’s Fei
Xue and Kenya’s
Florence Jebet
Kiplagat for the win
in the women’s 5000m
title. The home
favourite eventually
grabbed gold
courtesy of what was
a devastating sprint
finish. She improved
her personal best to
15:31.61 while
Kiplagat won silver
in 15:32.34, also a
personal best.
There was another
exciting race in the
race for the bronze
medal with once
again a Chinese and
a Kenyan athlete
fighting it hard
over the last metres
but this time Mary
Wacera Ngugi (KEN)
prevailed over Xue
Bai (CHN), 15:36.82
to 15:37.12.
|
 |
| Jebet
Kiplagat settles for silver |
Ebuya wins two medals
Joseph Ebuya won two
medals , a silver in
the 10,000m and a
bronze in the 5000m.
He follows in the
footsteps of Paul
Ereng, the last
great athlete to
emerge from West
Pokot district.
|
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| Ebuya settles for silver
in a sprint finish |
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