by Deji Ogeyingbo
Letsile Tebogo, 2022 African Athletics Champs, Day 5, photo by Deji Ogeyingbo
The Coaches seats, 2022 African Athletics Champs, photo by Deji Ogeyingbo
This is the fifth and final day of the 22nd African Athletics Championships. Deji covered all five days, providing daily social media and photos, plus a column on each day but 4, where he dealt with the flu. We thank Deji for providing us daily updates on this fine championship.
We will post complete results on Monday, and post pictures from each day of the African Champs this coming week!
Tebogo and Seyni claim 200m titles as Sekgodiso miss out on Gold in women’s 100m
On a day the rain came down in droves, it was the duo of Letsile Tebogo and Aminatou Seyni who braved the odds to emerge victorious in the men and women’s 200m final of the 22nd edition of the African Championships, while South Africa’s rising star Prudence Sekgodiso got beaten by another Kenyan in the space of a week, denying her Gold in the women’s 800m final.
Tebogo had cruised through his heats and semis on Day 4 of the Championships, hardly breaking any sweat, and he was the favorite on the day of the final. The world junior champion over 100m duly delivered a performance for the ages as he stormed to victory in a windy 20.26s, easing of the line towards the last 10m.
Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (20.61) dipped at the line to beat South Africa’s Clarence Munyai (20.69) to Silver.
After the disappointment of losing out to Gina Bass in the women’s 100m final, Niger’s Seyni was a class apart from the rest of the field to win the women’s 200m final with 23.04s. Kenya’s Maximilla Imali was a surprise silver medalist roaring through the last 10m to cross the line in 23.43, while Zambia’s Rhoda Njobvu picked the bronze.
Another final that promised to light up was the women’s 800m, one that includes the rising star, Sekgodiso. The 19-year-old was a favourite to win gold, but in what was a miscalculation of her tactics, Kenya and Ethiopia’s Jarinta Mwasya and Desta Gebre beat her to the title as she settled for Bronze.
The first sprint final to take place inside a rainy Cote D’or was the women’s 400m Hurdles final. South Africa’s Zene Van Der Walt was a class apart from the rest of the field as she blazed to a victory in 56.00s. Her compatriot, Taylor Bieldt, won Silver in 56.65.
In the men’s final, South Africa’s Sokwakhana Zazini pipped defending champion Abdelmalik Lahoulou of Algeria as he ran a blistering home straight to claim victory in 49.42s.
Getachew Woldeamanuel won Gold for Ethiopia in the women’s steeplechase final in 9:36.81, inspiring his teammate Zerfe Kassa to Silver, while Kenya’s Caren Chebet picked bronze in 9:41.37.
Defending champion in the men’s Shot Put, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi of Nigeria, fought off competition from South Africa’s Olympic finalist, Kyle Blignaut to set a new championship record of 21.20m. Blignaut won Silver with a second-round effort of 20.60m, with Egypt’s Mohammad Magdy taking the Silver.
At the end of what has been an intriguing championship, Kenya topped the medals table with ten golds, five Silver, and eight bronze, while South Africa and Nigeria were second and third.
