Poor outing for Kenyans in field events

Kenyan Hammer throw Girl Christabel Abuti prepare to throw during the IAAF World U18 Championships at Kasarani Stadium on Thursday 13/07/17.[Boniface Okendo,Standard]

It has been a poor outing for Kenyans in field events in the ongoing IAAF World Under-18 Championships.

Kenya was represented by Ita Nao Leshan in the boys' javelin final yesterday and he finished in ninth place out of 14 countries after throws of 46.78m, 64.66m, and 61.24m in his three attempts.

Chinese Zhekai won gold after recording a whopping 77.54m in his second attempt.

In the boy’s long jump final, Kenya was represented by Musyoka Mwema, who finished in 13th place out of 14 participants.

Mwema recorded a personal best jump of 6.95m. His attempts had marks of 6.95m, 6.95m, and 6.70m. Maikel Vidal of Cuba won gold with a second jump of 7.88m.

Mwema also represented Kenya in the boys' triple jump, where he registered a 14.63m jump that saw him miss the final cut by 0.05m.

Peninah Akoth was Kenya’s sole representative in the girl’s shot put final (3kg), where she finished bottom in the pool of 15 participants.

Akoth had an effort of 10.91m in her first attempt, but failed to register marks in her second and third attempts.

Just like in the girls' shot put, the boys' category (5kg) was no different either as Kenya’s Joseph Nyakundi Nyaanga found it to be a tough going.

Nyaanga finished last in pool B that had 10 participants.

Nyaanga recorded a personal best of 13.02m in his second attempt. His first attempt was 12.97m while the third was 12.50m.

It was an even more disastrous outing for Kenya in girls' hammer (3kg) group A qualification, where Christabel Abuti’s all three attempts were not marked as she finished last.

Despite the disappointment, Abuti, a Form Four student at Moi Girls Kamusinga, held her head high, saying the championships gave her valuable experience that would shape her career.

It is also fair to note that Vivian Cheptoo failed to start in the girls' discus category on Wednesday, which was won by Leia Braunagel of Germany, who recorded a personal best of 51.33m. Despite the massive disappointments, Kenya still has hope in the boys' triple jump final today. Vincent Kipkoech Kilel made the cut after registering a 14.68m personal best in his first attempt in the qualifiers.