WU20: Kenya fails to defend overall title, finishes fourth in Colombia

Kenya failed to defend its overall title in the just concluded 2022 World U20 Athletics Championships held in Cali, Colombia after finishing in fourth place behind champions United States of America, Jamaica and neighbouring rivals Ethiopia.

In the 19th edition of the Games where the country was seeking to make it three titles in a row after successful outings in Finland (2018) and Nairobi (2021), Kenya relinquished its title after totaling ten medals (3 Gold, 3 Silver, 4 Bronze).

Medal Table

It was a shock final day for Kenya in the Championships as no home athlete finished the line in first position in any of the four finals held on day 6 where Kenya was expected to go for the top podium position.

In the women’s 1500 metre race, Brenda Chebet and Purity Chepkirui had to settle for silver and bronze respectively despite clocking personal best times as Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom scooped gold.

Haylom struck at the final bend with a killer kick on the homestretch to beat Chebet with less than 50m to go as she held on for victory.

The men’s 800m race was a disaster for pre-race favourite Noah Kibet as the World Indoor Silver medalist finished his event in second last position after a poorly timed race as Ethiopia’s Ermias Girma won.

WU20: 2-3 in 1500m as Kenya misses podium in 800m, 5000m and 3000m/sc

Kenya also relinquished the steeplechase title as the duo of Emmanuel Wafula and Harun Kibet finished sixth and 10th respectively in a race that was won by Ethiopia’s Samuel Duguna.

In the 5,000m, the duo of Jane Chacha and Maureen Cherotich employed an explosive pace from the start, but they were spent forces in the final three laps of the race allowing the Ethiopians to take charge.

They finished sixth and seventh respectively, slightly over a minute behind the winner, Medina Eisa of Ethiopia. The defeat meant that the wait for a women's 5000m medal continued since Beatrice Chebet's win Tampere in 2018.

The performance in Cali was a far cry from the performance in Nairobi last year where Kenya had a harvest of 16 medals (8 Gold, 1 Silver and 7 Bronze).

USA finished top of the standings after a harvest of 15 medals; seven gold, four silver and four bronze.

Jamaica finished second with 16; six gold, seven silver and three bronze.