The women’s 10,000m produced one of the major highlights of the fourth day of athletics at the African Games in Rabat, with Ethiopia stamping their authority in the event on Thursday (29).
Tsehay Gemechu ensured her teammates followed the game plan to the latter. Halfway into the race, the Ethiopian trio of Gemechu, Zeineba Yimer, Dera Dida and Kenya’s Irene Jepchumba disengaged from the rest of the pack. Jepchumba tried to keep up with Gemechu, staying in second place, but at the sound of the bell, the latter sped away. Her compatriots took that as a signal and followed hard after her, eventually overtaking the Kenyan while Gemechu took gold in 31:56.92. The silver medal went to Yimer (31:57.95) while Dida took bronze with 31:58.78.
Ethiopia wasn’t the only nation to achieve a sweep of the medals on Thursday as Egypt finished 1-2-3 in the men’s hammer, replicating their feat from the 2018 African Championships.
Two-time African champion Mostafa Elgamel retained his title with a best effort of 72.50m, which he secured at his fourth attempt. The Egyptian set the pace for his compatriots, Alaa El Ashry (72.04m) and Eslam Mohamed (71.36m) who completed the podium.
Source: IAAF
