Yego, Nyairera bag silver and bronze medals for Kenya
Kenya's Julius Yego competes in the Men's Javelin Throw Final during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 20, 2016. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- It was bitter sweet victory for Yego who incredibly landed the silver medal with just one throw, a 88.24m haul in his first attempt.
- In the women’s 800m, Nyairera picked a bronze medal on her debut at the Olympics in a race won by South Africa’s Castser Semanya in of 1:5528.
- The 1,500m final turned into a horror show for Kenya as three-time world champion Asbel Kiprop could only manage a sixth place finish in a time of 3:50.87.
in Rio de Janeiro
Julias Yego and Margeret Nyairera won silver and bronze medals for in the women’s 800m and men’s javelin throw respectively on the penultimate day of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
It was bitter sweet victory for Yego who incredibly landed the silver medal with just one throw, a 88.24m haul in his first attempt.
Yego was forced out before completing his other four throws but he had done enough to add an Olympic silver medal to his world title that he won last year in Beijing, China.
In the women’s 800m, the youthful Nyairera picked a well-deserved bronze medal on her debut at the Olympics in a final contest that South Africa’s Caster Semanya won with ease on a time of 1:5528.
The runners hit the home straight with Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba in front but with the finish line in straight pre-race favourite Semenya steadily go into her stride easing past Niyonsaba who had contend with a silver medal after timing 1:56.49.
From left to right: silver medallist Kenya's Julius Yego, Gold medallist Germany's Thomas Rohler, and bronze medallist Trinidad and Tobago's Keshorn Walcott celebrate on the podium for the Men's Javelin throw final during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 20, 2016.PHOTO | AFP
Behind Semanya and Niyonsaba, Canadian Melissa Bishop seemed to have an advantage of about three strides over Nyairera. But in the final meters Nyairera dug deep, coming from behind to claim the bronze medal on a time of 1 :56.89.
“Great achievement for me. The race was tough, considering that Semenya was also competing. I felt I was low but I managed to pick and catch up with them. The two (Semanya and Niyonsaba) are strong and I lost to better people than me,” Nyairera said.
“But I am happy to race and be beaten by the champions. I have some work to do especially when it comes to speed-work and endurance. Up to the last minute I have struggled, especially the 100m. Is feel I still have more to do to be in a better position to achieve the best,” she added.
On a day of mixed luck for Kenya, the men’s 1,500m pair of Asbel Kiprop and Ronald Kwemoi however saw the gold medal slip through their fingers under bizarre circumstances.
The two later pleaded for forgiveness from Kenyans saying they shouldn’t be blamed for their failure to win the race.
The 1,500m final turned into a horror show for Kenya as three-time world champion Kiprop, who had gone into the favourite, could only manage a sixth place finish in a time of 3:50.87.
Kenya's Margaret Nyairera Wambui celebrates winning the bronze medal in the Women's 800m Final during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 20, 2016. PHOTO | AFP
It was worse for Kwemoi, who was tripped in the second lap and failed to recover, finishing in last place on 3:56.76 in a race full of intrigues that was won by American Matthew Centrowitz after timing 3:50.00 for the gold medal.
Defending Olympics champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria settled for silver in 3:50.11, while the bronze medal went to Nicholas Willis of New Zealand.
The silver medal was second one for Makhloufi who came second behind Kenya’s David Rudisha in the men’s 800m finals.
FAULTED TACTICS
Kiprop and Kwemoi faulted the tactics used by their rivals to lock them out of the race as opposed to the fact that both of them stayed in the back of the pack for the better part of the race.
“Very strange race, very strange indeed. I’m used to lagging behind and this time round when I lagged behind everyone lagged behind. It had to be a very slow race and when I tried to go in front the guys came in and forced me back into the pool and took the pace slower again. It worked for them. In a slow race like that it is hard to beat everyone,” Kiprop said.
"When I normally stay behind I preserve a lot of energy, but also when I stayed behind everyone was a bit slow and and everyone was fresh and by the time I tried to move out there was a lot of pushing and shoving. It was a flowing race. But anyway this is the Olympics and everyone who comes here is entitled to victory," Kiprop said.
Kwemoi on his part rued his chances after that fall which he says cost him the race.
“I’m very unhappy because I had a good plan but when I was tripped I couldn’t recover. So I’m asking Kenyans not to blame me or Asbel. It was not anything of our own making,” a disappointed Kwemoi said.
The Kenyan team immediately appealed against the outcome of the race, for an incident during the final lap of the race when Makhloufi appeared to have held back Kiprop.
