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Kenya's Betty Chelangat on Tuesday produced a powerful display to take Kenya's first gold medal at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Colombia, winning the women's 3000m ahead of Ethiopia's Tsiyon Abebe and Kenya's Nancy Cherop.
Chelangat battled with teammate Cherop and Abebe for most of the contest before taking command of the tactical encounter to win the first gold medal at this year's championships.
Chelangat stayed strong all the way to the finish, crossing the line in 9:01.03 ahead of Abebe (9:03.85) and Cherop (9:05.98). After an army-style salute to the crowd, Chelangat dropped to her knees, raised her arms in celebration, then clasped them in thankful prayer.
But she was just as quick to rise to her feet and take off with her teammate for a lap of honour that looked almost as fast as her last 300m, the effort clearly not taking much out of her.
"I train hard, and that's why I win," said Chelangat, who is based in Iten under the guidance of coach John Litei. "I waited until three laps remaining, then I see that I have enough left. I thank God and also my coach."
As for what the future holds? "I want to represent my country and run in the Olympic Games," she said.Abebe was pleased with her silver, saying: "This is the first time I've gotten to represent my country. Of course, I wanted to get gold, which didn't work out, but I am incredibly happy." Cherop paid tribute to her coach, Peter Bii, saying she was "expecting to win the race" but was content with bronze.
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