40th Ethiopian Athletics Championships: Abera Kuma triumphs in 5000m – Athletics Update
The African athletes showed sheer determination and tremendous athletic ability at the events of the 40th Ethiopian Athletics Championships at the Addis Ababa stadium, May 8.
Some of the World’s renowned athletes gathered to impress the crowd with their competitive spirit and fierce determination to achieve the highest accolades at the events.
African Junior 5000m Champion Abera Kuma bounced back after his disqualification at the World Cross Country Championships to put in a brilliant performance that showed his standards of competition. The young and sensational athlete completed the 5000m in
scintillating fashion to show what he is best at.
Kuma, after putting in some relatively decent performances in the absence of the best Ethiopian 5000m runners, displayed his supremacy in the race from the onset and adhered on to the lead for all but one of the twelve-and-half laps before finishing at 13:40.0.
His finishing times were accredited as the third fastest time ever at the Addis Ababa stadium.
“Last year, I was a runner-up and well prepared for this year to get a good result,” said Kuma. “The competition was fine and I am happy to have won it."
An intriguing fact which made the race more exciting was the battle for second place between the newcomers Gemechu Edao and Atsedu Tsegaye. The battle seemed to be an intense one, as both athletes battled it out and with sheer instinct Tsegaye capitalised
with a decent finish at 13:51.0, whereas Edao settled for third position at 13:54.3.
The event of the Men’s 3000m Steeple-chase contained all the ingredients for an exciting and competitive race. Sisay Korme came out as being one of the most distinct of all the competitors. The runner from the Oromiya region was competing in his first national
championships, turned out to be the highlight of the event on the account of surpassing one of the pre-race favourites Legesse Lemiso, the 2005 World Youth 2000m Steeple-chase champion and the All-African Games bronze medallist, Nahom Mesfin.
Mesfin began to to show signs of a loss in stamina as he first got dropped back from a leading position before falling far behind during the sixth lap. This sudden drop by Mesfin gave Korme the queue to stick behind leader Lemiso. Korme stuck to the lead
to attain an amazing victory with a timeline of 8:39.0. The second place was snatched in a battle between Ammute Minalu and Lemiso from which Minalu capitalised at 8:40.3 leaving Lemiso to settle for the third with a decent timeline of 8:42.9.
The competition was intense, as all the athletes fought hard throughout the events for top honours. It will be interesting to see how the athletes carry their winning momentum forward to the next athletics meet.
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