Norah Jeruto Tanui bags a gold medal for the Kenyan contingent – Athletics news
Norah Jeruto Tanui, the 15-year-old girl from Kenya, outdid her rivals in the 2000m run at the IAAF World Youth Championships, which is currently underway in Lille, France.
The young thin girl, though had already been considered as a pre-favourite for the race, but nobody had thought of her to produce the results that would help her emerge as the fourth fastest runner of her category.
Instead of following the traditional way of building her dominance on the track gradually, the strenuous runner opted for pulling out from rest of the competitors, right from the gun. Perhaps it was the result of her formidable strides that she covered the
initial one 1km in a mere three minutes and 1.95 seconds.
After marking a quick first 1000m performance, spectators hoped to see the young Kenyan breaking the World Youth Best Performance for the distance, which stands at six minutes and 11.83 seconds. The record was marked by Korahubsh Itaa from Ethiopia, about
two years ago. Quite expectedly, her efforts paid the dividends and she managed to hit the finishing line in six minutes and 20.67 seconds.
As the talented Kenyan moved towards finishing-off her race as the title holder of the event, her close rivals, comprised of Ethiopia’s Motu Megersa, Fadwa Sidi Madane from Morocco, Argentina’s Belen Casetta and Nancy Cheptegei from Uganda, also noted some
impressive finishes and marked their fast times on the track.
The formidable leading contingent stopped the clock in six minutes and 30.81 seconds, six minutes and 34.10 seconds, six minutes and 35.40 seconds and 6 minutes and 38.57 seconds, respectively. Tanui’s team-mate, Lilian Jepkorir Chemweno, also managed to
clock a fast finish for accomplishing the desired distance in six minutes and 31.66 seconds.
The results produced by young athletes at Lille have marked a clear dominance of the Kenyan squad on the track. The positive aspect of the results produced by top finishers is an indication of the fact that the quality of sports in almost all disciplines
of athletics is increasing significantly at the junior level.
The impeccable performances produced by the young stellar performers are well enough to underscore the fact that the world athletics arena is going to experience a new era of excellence, in just a few years down the line.
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