Wins by global champions Tsige Duguma and Medina Eisa, an African record in the mixed 4x400m and championship records in the women’s pole vault and hammer throw provided some of the highlights from the first two days of athletics action at the African Games in Accra, Ghana.
Fresh from her gold medal-winning exploits at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma left little margin for error in the women’s 800m. The 2022 national 400m champion controlled the race from start to finish and was unstoppable.
She took the win in 1:57.73, improving her 800m lifetime best of 1:58.35 that she set to secure her world indoor title in Glasgow, to finish ahead of 2019 world champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, who returned a time of 1:58.59. Completing the podium was Kenya’s Vivian Kiprotich, who took the bronze with 2:00.27.
World U20 champion Medina Eisa led Ethiopia’s medal sweep in the women’s 5000m. The young squad comprising Eisa, Birtukan Molla and world U20 silver medallist Melknat Wudu had to contend with world record-holder in the women’s steeplechase, Beatrice Chepkoech.
Nevertheless, the trio played their cards well and as hard as the Kenyan tried to keep up with her fellow East African rivals, she could not as the youngsters pulled clear to achieve a 1-2-3. World Championships finalist Eisa clocked 15:04.32 for gold, Molla posted a lifetime best of 15:05.32 in second, while Wudu posted 15:07.04 for third. Chepkoech finished fourth in 15:13.71.
The first track event to be decided in Accra was the men’s 3000m steeplechase and the world U20 silver medallist from Cali, Samuel Firewu, outsmarted his Kenyan rivals to take the race. Allowing them to take the lead but staying just close enough to launch out at the sound of the bell, he then sped away from the rest of the field.
All efforts by Kenya’s Amos Serem and Simon Kiprop to catch up with the youngster proved unsuccessful as he charged down the finish straight to take the win in 8:24.30, with Serem and Kiprop settling for silver and bronze respectively in 8:25.77 and 8:26.19.
There was another win for Ethiopia in the men’s 10,000m, where Nimret Melak and his compatriot Gemechu Dida claimed the gold and silver medals respectively, denying home athlete William Amponsah the opportunity of a fairy-tale ending. The Ghanaian stole the show after making his way into the lead for a good portion of the race. However, he lost steam with a few laps to go, losing the advantage to Melak and Dida, who recorded times of 29:45.37 and 29:45.68. Kenya’s Kiptum Evans took the bronze while Amponsah was rewarded with a national record of 29:50.99 for his efforts.
