Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010: Kenya Emphatically Succeeds in Marathon Races
New Delhi – from mere 100m races to the marathons, African athletes did not leave any room for their rivals on the track. This is a fact which had been repeated throughout the commonwealth games and which was once again depicted in the Delhi commonwealth
games as John Kelai, the Kenyan marathoner emphatically won gold in men’s marathon at the final day of the games.
Kelai showed his commendable stamina when he broke from halfway and made it to the finishing line in mere two hours, fourteen minutes and thirty five seconds. Kelai finished ahead of Michael Shelley from Australia and Tirop Matui who also hails from Kenya.
On other hand, the women’s marathon observed Kenya ending up with a gold and silver, as Jerotich made it to the finishing line ahead of Irene Mogake. Lisa Weightman of Australia eventually succeeded in bagging a bronze medal in the competition. Throughout
the race, it seemed the real competition was between Jerotich and Mogake as both of them went shoulder to shoulder for most of the part on the track. Until the finishing line, both of the athletes covered the track running like a team and talking to each other.
As the weather at Delhi turned to be hot and humid, Jerotich showed stronger nerve and took a lead of two kilometres from rest of the two close rivals. For Jerotich, it was rather a remarkable win, as right in the beginning of the race she heavily fell on
the drinks table, however the girl mustered up the courage and carried on.
As the race proceeded, it looked like Naigambo, the Namibian runner would make it to the bronze but Weightman eventually timed her race well and challenged Naigambo at the last stages. With a determined look at her face, Weightman paced the final stages
to catch the Kenyan competitors who eventually proved too fast to be left behind forcing her to settle for the third position.
For Weightman, winning the medal was also an emotional matter as the Australian athlete McCann, former champion of 2002 and 2006 had died of breast cancer back in 2008.
In men’s race, the emphatic Kelai took over the control of the race with about 25 minutes to go as he paced up himself with subtle moves taking him away and far ahead from other competitors. Looking fully controlled and relaxed, the runner built on his leads
and comfortably won the race.
Sharing his views about his emphatic success, Kelai told the media personnel that owing to the hot weather the race had turned hard for his rivals, but since he was quite used to with running in the harsh weathers, it did not bother him at all.
The battle for the silver medal turned to be interesting as Matui from Kenya, Samson Ramadhani from Tanzania and Reinhold Lita from Namabia kept on changing the positions. But as Ramadhani and Lita rather did too much and too soon to name the battle. They
eventually could not keep the pace and slowed down considerably, letting Shelley from Australia back into the competition. Shelley made it to third position with smart and tactical run.
The performance of Kenyan players in athletics in the Delhi commonwealth games was rather historical, as for the first time in the history they left Australia far behind on the medal table. With winning both the marathon races for men and women, the gold
medal tally for Kenya reached at 11. Had Kenya not made it to the gold’s in the marathons on the final day of the event, Australia could have easily topped the podium in athletics.
The Kenyan marathon winners, at the end of the ceremony were now eyeing upon coming Olympics which are expected to be held in London in 2012. However, prior to that they also expressed the hopes to be participating into the marathon races which were around
the corner and were expected to be held before the fast approaching winter season.
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