(Mohammed Benchrif)
Kenya largely dominated the final of the two-lap event by taking gold and silver thanks to the efforts of Emmanuel Korir, the newly crowned Olympic champion with a time of 1 min 45 sec 06, who beat his compatriot Ferguson Rotich by 17 hundredths of a second and Polish athlete Patryk Dobek (who finished in 1 min 45 sec 39).
Korir followed in the footsteps of another compatriot the legendary David Rudisha, world record holder and twice winner of the Olympic title, in London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Korir (26), 6th over 400m at the World Championships in Doha 2019, took first place at the Continental Cup in Ostrava in 2018.
Rotich (31) who won bronze at the 2019 World Championships, took 5th place at the Rio Olympics as well as 4th at the 2015 Beijing World Championships.
It’s worth remembering that the Botswanan, Nigel Amos, Olympic silver medallist at London 2012, who recovered after a fall in the semi-final, finished in 8th place (1:46:41).
After an African clean sweep in the men’s 3000m steeplechase on Monday 2nd August, the young Ugandan athlete of 22 years of age, Peruth Chemutai, tightened Africa’s grip on this event.
Chemutai was crowned Olympic champion on Wednesday in Tokyo, covering the distance in 9 min 01 sec 45 and gifting her country the 3rd Olympic title in its history. This after Chemutai had finished 5th at the Doha World Championships in 2019.
This is the third athletics medal secured by Uganda at the Tokyo games after the silver and bronze of Chemutai’s compatriots Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo in the 10,000m on 4th August, the first day of athletics competitions.
American Courtney Frerichs (9:04.79), silver medallist at the 2017 London World Championships and Kenyan Hyvin Kiyeng (9:04.79) took the silver and bronze medals respectively, whereas Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech, world record holder, had to settle for 7th place.
As for Kiyeng, she won silver in Rio before becoming world champion in Beijing in 2015 and finishing third at the 2017 World Championships in London.
Andre de Grasse crowned 200m champion
Canadian Andre de Grasse, Olympic silver medallist in 2016, followed in the victorious footsteps of Jamaican Usain Bolt over 200m, stopping the clock at 19 sec 62, on Wednesday at the Tokyo games.
De Grasse outpaced Americans Kenneth Bednarek (19:68) and Noah Lyles (19.74). Their compatriot Erriyon Knighton, aged just 17, finished just outside the podium places (19.93).
The young Liberian Joseph Fahnbulleh (19) produced a remarkable performance in the 200m final crossing the line in 5th place (19 :98).
Three Africans in the 1500m final
Three African athletes, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, reigning Olympic champion, Ethiopian Freweyni Gebreezibeher and Ugandan Winnie Nanyondo secured their places in the 1500m final and on Friday will take on the Netherlands athlete Sifan Hassan, who maintained smooth control of her semi-final heat. Sifan, already the 5000m Olympic champion is also targeting titles over 1500 and 10,000m (final on Saturday).
In the men’s 1500m, seven African athletes will fight out the semi-finals on Thursday, namely Kenyan athletes Timothy Cheruiyot, Abel Kipsang and Charles Cheboi Simotwo, Ethiopians Samuel Zeleke and Teddese Lemi, Moroccan Abdelatif Sadiki and Ayanleh Souleiman from Djibouti.
In the men’s triple jump Hugues Fabrice Zango from Burkina Faso (16,83 m) and the young Algerian athlete Yasser Mohamed Triki (17,05 m) have also booked their place in the final.
As for Botswanan Isaac Makwala, he will be among the starters in the 400m.
African medals
After six days of competitions, Africa has collected a total of 14 medals (4 in gold, 5 in silver and 5 in bronze).
Country Gold Silver Bronze
Kenya 1 2 2
Ethiopia 1 1 1
Uganda 1 1 1
Morocco 1 0 0
Namibia 0 1 0
Nigeria 0 0 1