On Friday in Tokyo, Ethiopian Selemon Barega was crowned Olympic champion in the 10,000m and in so doing unseated the out-and-out favourite and world record holder, Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei. He thereby provided Africa with its 9th Olympic title over this distance.
Barega, a surprise winner, finished in 27min 43sec 22, outpacing Cheptegei (27min 43sec 63) and fellow Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo (27 min 43 sec 88) in a race hotly contested by runners from Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya who made up the leading pack for the entirety of the final.
Joshua Cheptegei was the outright favourite, having smashed the world record over the distance (26:11.00) in October 2020, the world championship title holder as well as the world record holder over 5000m, but had to settle for the silver medal followed by his compatriot Jacob Kiplimo (bronze medal). However, this punishing race had a particularly bitter conclusion for Kenya who came away empty-handed.
This was the first major title for Barega (21 years of age), second at the Doha World Championships in 2019 over 5000m and 5th at the London World Championships in 2017 over the same distance at only 17 years of age.
World number one since 2019, Joshua Cheptegei will have the chance to secure his first Olympic title as he will also take to the starting line in the 5000m, much like recent long-distance legends such as compatriot Kenenisa Bekele (2008) and the British athlete of Somalian descent Mo Farah (2012, 2016).
It is worth remembering that the first African runner to win a gold medal in the 10,000m was Kenyan star Naftali Temu at the Mexico Olympics of 1968. All in all, seven African athletes have taken the 10,000m Olympic title.
Other than Naftali, these runners have been the Ethiopians Miruts Yifter (1980), Haile Gebrselassie (1996 and 2000), Kenenisa Bekele (2004 and 2008), the Moroccans Brahim Boutayeb (1988) and Khalid Skah (1992).
Marie-José Ta Lou impressive over 100m
The Ivorian Marie-José Ta Lou impressed in the 100m qualifying rounds, this Friday, covering the distance in a standout time of 10sec 78, smashing her personal best by 7 milliseconds.
In so doing, Ta Lou, 32 years of age, equalled the African record set by her compatriot Murielle Ahouré, who has also qualified for the semi-finals. Furthermore, across the seven qualifying rounds she outpaced the Jamaicans Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the double Olympic champion over 100m (2008 and 2012) and Elaine Thompson-Herah the defending Olympic champion, who both won their respective rounds.
For her part, the Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, booked her place in the semi-finals, scheduled for Saturday, by winning her qualifying round in 11 sec 5/100 as did her compatriot Nzubechi Grace Kocha (11:00).
Gudaf Tsegay and Hellen Obiri smoothly through to the 5000m final
Six African athletes, including the Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay and the Kenyan Hellen Obiri, have stamped their tickets for the 5000m final set for next Monday.
Tsagay, bronze medal winner over 1500m at the Doha World Championships, imposed herself on the second round in a time of (14 min 55 sec 74) ahead of the Kenyan Hellen Obiri (14:55.77) who is a double world-champion in the 5000m and won silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
The Kenyan Angnest Jebet Tirop and the Ethiopian Senbere Teferi also qualified for the final having taken second and third places behind the Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan, who is targeting an unprecedented triple in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m and who booked her place with ease by clocking a time of 14 min 47 sec 89 in her round.
The qualification of five African athletes for the 800m semi-finals is another eye-catching achievement, those being Moroccan Rabab Arafi, Ugandans Winnie Nanyondo and Halimah Nakaa, Ethiopian Habitam Alemu and Kenyan Mary Moraa.
