Kenyan junior athletes earn victories in Abidjan

Boys battle it in 1500m during the trials for World under 18 Championships at Nyayo Stadium on June 13, 2017. [Dennis Okeyo, Standard]

Kenya got off to a winning start at the African Under-20 and under-8 Championships in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, as they won five medals on Tuesday night.

Vincent Keter won gold in men’s under-18 1,500m to open Kenya’s medal count. Keter timed 3:40.28 to beat Ethiopian Gezahigyihun Fentahun, who settled for silver in 3:43.64 while another Kenyan, Peter Kibui, settled for bronze in 3:45.50.

Bravin Kiptoo (28:17.06) bagged gold in men’s under-20 10,000m while Emmanuel Korir (28:26.46) settled for bronze behind Uganda’s Samuel Kibet who timed 28:22.26.

Immaculate Anyango (9:36.06) won silver in women’s under-20 3,000m behind Ethiopian Taritu Alamitu (9:33.53). Haie Tsihan of Ethiopia took bronze in 9:37.06.

Janet Nyiva added another silver in women’s under-20 1500m behind Ethiopia’s Meryem Azrour, who clocked 4:20.14. The competition ends on April 22.

At the same time,  Athletics Kenya President Jackson Tuwei was elected Senior Vice President of Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) at the Ordinary Congress of the CAA held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Tuesday. He will deputize Cameroonian Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, who was re-elected.

Malboum has been at the helm of CAA since 2003 after taking over from Lamine Diack who went on to become President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 1999 to 2015.

The 68-year-old defeated Tunisian rival Amara Khaled by 44 votes to seven to retain his seat in an election attended by IAAF President Sebastian Coe who expressed his delight at the return of the Cameroonian.

“I want to congratulate both candidates that stood for the elections, but specially congratulate my colleague and friend Kalkaba. I look forward to working with him again because we have a lot of work to do,” said Coe.

Meanwhile the IAAF yesterday released a comprehensive guide to sports nutrition designed to offer athletes the latest information on fueling their training and performance.

The IAAF Consensus Statement on Nutrition for Athletes includes the latest scientific developments.