African athletes will be hoping for a great outing on the final day of the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, aiming to finish the competition on a high with representations across seven finals to draw the curtains on what has been a great outing for the continent.
Schedule | Results | Medals | TV Guide | Watch on DStv
Ethiopia is currently the highest-ranked African team on the medal table with an overall tally of nine medals; four of which are gold medals, going into the last day with a chance to increase that haul.
Selemon Barega will lead the final onslaught for Ethiopia, hoping he could get one over his rival, Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei, who beat him earlier in the championships when they met in the 10 000m event. This time around, they will clash in the 5 000m with revenge on Barega's mind as he hopes to consolidate Ethiopia's second spot on the log, adding another gold medal to their collection.
Going by how well she performed in the first round of the women's 100m Hurdles, Nigeria's Tobi Amusan could be on a mission, and if all goes to plan for her, she might not just be winning a medal for herself, but possibly even win the holy grail to become Nigeria's first-ever world champion.
Amusan looked in great shape in the heats, running a new African Record (AR) of 12.40s to emerge the fastest overall in the heats. This is the third time Amusan is breaking her AR in the space of 10 months: 12.42s in Zurich, 12.41s in Paris and now 12.40s in Eugene.
Interestingly, her start has improved as well, and if she comes up with a flawless execution in the semis and final, she could be in with a chance for a big medal on Sunday.
From Amusan to her friend Ese Brume, who left it late to qualify for the final of the women's long jump. The 2019 bronze medallist has a big chance for a medal going into yet another final, hoping to finish on the podium again for Nigeria.
Nigeria will for the first time have two athletes in the final of the women's long jump event, through Brume and Ruth Usoro who are accounting for their country's representation.
Having been close to elimination after being down in 13th place before her last attempt; Brume kept her cool, getting off the board cleanly and leaping way over the automatic qualification mark of 6.70m, and registering a jump of 6.82m. Usoro was quite lucky to get a big jump on her last attempt. The Texas Tech school undergraduate qualified for her first World Championships final, jumping 6.69m (+4.7).
"At first, I was nervous. But then I got myself composed and tried to do a better performance. The second jump did not go well, but I didn't give up. It's not over until it's over. I had to compose myself and went for it and I made it. You have to be physically prepared and that's what you do in training and mental preparation come second," Brume said about her qualification rounds.
"That's what affected me at first but I had to put it together. Last year was more competitive, but my fellow jumpers and I will have a great performance on Sunday. I am also happy to have my fellow Nigerian - Ruth Usoro in the final."
One event that could produce an upset is the women's 800m final. Although USA's Athing Mu is the favourite for gold, 20-year-old Ethiopian Diribe Welteji could surprise the American and produce something special. Already Welteji has run a PB of 1:58.16 in Eugene, but she would have to go much faster and be at her best if she is to beat Mu.
Kenya's Mary Moraa has the potential of finishing on the podium, and if she runs very well as she did in the semis, she could stand a chance.
Team Botswana could make the best use of their second chance on Sunday, competing in the men's 4x400m relay, aiming to become the second African team since Nigeria in 1995 to win a World Championships medal. Botswana finished seventh in their heat despite leading, but they luckily were reinstated after a review in their race established that they were impeded.
Story by Charles Jerome
ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS BROADCAST DETAILS
Times are SA, CAT, GMT+2
24 July
Day 10 Morning Session | 15:15-00:10 | SS Variety 3
25 July
Day 10 Afternoon Session | 01:50-06:00 | SS Variety 3