Golden night for Kenya

Wycliffe Kinyamal and Beatrice Chebet triumphed in a magical hour in Birmingham on Sunday night, helping Kenya reassert their position as the top African nation in track and field events at the Commonwealth Games.

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Kenya finished third overall in the standings with 20 medals and was first in Africa with six golds, five silvers and nine bronze medals. Nigeria was fifth with six gold, one silver, three bronze while Uganda ended in seventh place with three golds and a bronze.

Australia topped the athletics table with 10 golds, 10 silvers and four bronze medals while host nation England were second with seven gold, 15 silvers and 12 bronze.

Kinyamal was up against history when he lined up in the 800m final as no man had ever defended the title. But the 25-year-old executed his tactics perfectly, slowing the pace for a 55.57-second first lap.

That meant he had something left in the tank when everyone else began to kick for home and he held off Australia’s Peter Bol to win gold in 1:47.52.

Next up was Chebet and Selah Jepleting in the women’s 5000m, where they were up against 10 000m champion Eilish McColgan.

The trio broke away after the halfway point and with 250 metres to go, Chebet made her move, quickly pulling away from McColgan to clinch her third major title in four years in a seasonal best time of 14:38.21. Jepleting completed the podium with a bronze in a new personal best time of 14:48.24.

Still only 22, Chebet has built an impressive resume. She won the World Under-20 title in 2018 and followed it with the African title in June this year in Mauritius before settling for silver in Oregon last month.

Veteran javelin thrower Julius Yego improved his season’s best to 85.70m, which was enough to see him win bronze behind Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who won in a games record of 90.18m and world champion Anderson Peters, who settled for silver in 88.64m.

Kenya’s final medal of the night came in the 4x400m relay where Boniface Mweresa made up for a fourth-place finish in the 400m final with a barnstorming anchor leg that saw him overtake Team Jamaica for a third-place finish in a season’s best time of 3:02.41.

It was a perfect ending to a championship during which Kenya was under pressure to show its prowess after an indifferent showing at the World Championships.

Ferdinand Omanyala’s gold medal was possibly the most celebrated as the 26-year-old became the first Kenyan to win the 100m title in 60 years on Tuesday last week. The African champion beat South Africa’s Akani Simbine for the second time in as many finals, clocking 10.02s.

There were also gold medals for Kenya in both the men's and women’s 3000m steeplechase titles through Abraham Kibiwott - who updated his silver from Gold Coast to gold in Birmingham, and Jackline Chepkoech - who marked her graduation to the seniors with a memorable win, reclaiming the title that was lost to Aisha Praut of Jamaica in 2018.

World bronze medallist Mary Moraa then stunned home favourite Keely Hodgkinson with a powerful finish to claim her first major title.

Uganda will look back at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with satisfaction after winning three gold medals. Twenty-one-year-old Jacob Kiplimo was a class apart on the track, winning the 5000m and 10 000m double to maintain a rich tradition that has seen two other Ugandan men complete the double in the history of the games.

Victor Kiplangat then showed his pedigree in the men’s marathon, seeing off a spirited African challenge in the final stages of the ultimate distance.

South Africa’s lone gold on the track came courtesy of Ndodomzi Ntutu, who won the men’s T11/12 100m race while 22-year-old Zeney van der Walt continued to progress, winning bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles.

Zambia had a historic games, as Zambian teenager Muzala Samukonga won the country’s first-ever gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in the men's 400m. The 19-year-old finished like a train, going past the leaders in the last 50 metres to clock 44.66s for a momentous occasion in his career.

Botswana were underwhelming as they only secured one medal at the games, getting silver in the men’s 4x400m relay on Sunday. This was in stark contrast to the three gold medals they had garnered in Gold Coast four years ago.

Cameroon and Tanzania each got a silver while Namibia ended with three bronze medals.