About a week ago, Uganda sent five athlets and head coach George Palanda to the 14th IAAF World Junior Athletics Championships in Barcelona, Spain. The mission was to return to Kampala with medals but the target was not met. Halima Nakaayi fell out of the women’s 800m semifinal heat just before Winnie Nanyondo lasted in finals, a day later.
Nancy Cheptegei ran a personal best and finished ninth in women’s 5000m on Wednesday night. Last night, all hopes had been laid in 5000m duo Moses Kurong and Phillip Kipyeko. They did all they could but failed to impress. Kipyeko, on his debut 12 and a half lap race clocked 13:45.52 and finished fifth.
Kurong, who finished fifth in 10000m on Tuesday night, finished a place behind Kipyeko in a time 13:52.96. The race was won by Ethiopian Muktar Edris in 13:38.95. He also won gold in the 25 laps. The campaign was unsuccessful compared to 2010 where Uganda picked two bronze in Moncton, Canada.