At the end of Day 9 of the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, there were spectacular performances from African countries who won a cumulative six medals in three events, but it wasn’t just the medals that generated all the discourse; two African records tumbled to cap off what had been a good day for the continent.
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After years of toiling hard, Kenya's Emmanuel Korir finally has a World title to his name, galloping with speed in the home straight and bolting his way to glory in the men's 800m final. The Olympic champion had fallen short three years ago in Doha, but he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip from his grasp, digging deep to produce the much needed win.
Korir finished strongly ahead of the impressive Marco Arop who had set the pace for him, but he went down an extra gear crossing the line in a Season's Best of 1:43.71. Algeria's Djamel Sedjati also finished strongly, running hard to get Silver in 1:44.14, his country’s first medal at these World Championships.
In what was a tactical battle in the women's 5000m, Gudaf Tsegay had more to cheer for after clinching gold, the first time she will be winning a World title. The Ethiopian set her stall early, sharing leads with her compatriot Letesenbet Gidey, and they even played mind-games with each other, talking to themselves mid-race.
But it was Tsegay who outwitted the field, sprinting out from the final bend, en route winning gold in a time of 14:46.29. Kenya's Beatrice Chebet got the Silver in 14:46.75, while Dawit Seyaum held on to Bronze in 14:47.36 to complete an Ethiopian 1-3 on the podium.
Meanwhile in the field events, Hugues Fabrice Zango is a gift that keeps giving for Burkina Faso. For the umpteenth time he became his country's sole medallist at a major championship, leaping a distance of 17.55m to clinch Silver in the men's triple jump event.
Prior to the 2019 World Championships, no athlete from Burkina Faso had ever won a World Championships medal, but Zango successfully ensured his country got on the podium yet again, winning his second consecutive World Championships medal.
Zango isn't just repping the Green, Red and yellow star of the Burkinabe flag, he was sailing on the wings of the African continent, being the only African athlete who made it to the final of this event. In fact, he was one of only two African athletes who even qualified for the Triple Jump in Eugene.
Perhaps one of the best performances of the day came in women's 100m Hurdles, where Nigeria's Tobi Amusan led qualifications across heats, racing to yet another African Record of 12.40s to emerge fastest in all the six heats. Amusan was blistering, flying over the hurdles in quick pace to suggest that she is in a good shape to finally exorcise the demons of not having won a global medal.
"I did not know I was going that fast. The aim was just to qualify. At these championships, I am aiming on the podium for sure and want to take the fastest time, trying to execute well. I trust my hard work so I am just going to come out here and do what I have to do-" Amusan said after the race.
She has now broken the African Record three times in a space of 10months, indicative of a lady in the form of her life and what she is capable of. It might still be early days with two more rounds left on Sunday, but going into the semis with the fastest time ahead of your closest challenger at 12.48s, should give her a big boost.
On the other hand, a Nigerian team was also at the end of another African Record, this time women's 4x100m, who broke the 30-year-old record of 42.39s set at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics, racing to a new AR of 42.22s.
The quartet of Joy Udo-Gabriel, Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma & Grace Nwokocha got the stick round in 4th place, almost making it to the podium, but narrowly missed out to Germany who got the Bronze.
The unchanged Nigerian team, had run a Season's Best of 42.68s in the heats, qualifying for the final of the women's 4x100m for the first time in 11years.
Story by Charles Jerome