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Oregon 2022: Obiri, Chelimo bag silver and bronze in 10,000m

Saturday, July 16th, 2022 23:24 | By
Kenya's Hellen Obiri, Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey and Kenya's Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi cross the finish line in the women's 10,000m final during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on July 16, 2022 PHOTO/ AFP

Hellen Obiri’s long wait for a 10,000m global medal finally ended on Saturday evening as she won silver in a dramatic race won by Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia.

Another Kenyan in the race Margaret Chelimo settled for bronze in a race that saw pre-race favourite Sifan Hassan finish fourth. 

Gidey who holds world records in the 5000 metres and 10000 metres had to fight to the last stretch as Obiri and Chelimo breathed down her neck. Gidey recorded a world leading time of 30:09.94 while Obiri came in close at 30:10.02. Chelimo, who had a brilliant race from the start, recorded a personal best time of 30:10.07.

Obiri will perhaps feel undone by events in the last ten metres as she was elbowed by Gidey and this might have denied her a chance for gold. 

Obiri and Chelimo coordinated well from the beginning of the race and each played the ‘teamwork’ role perfectly. 

With the electric Sifan Hassan in the picture, one aim was to stop the Dutchwoman from advancing to the front and the other was to win Kenya’s first medal in Oregon. The two tactics worked out very well as Ethiopia and Kenya exchanged leads at the front. The Ethiopians too had their game plan and Bosena Mulatie and Gidey seemed to have been coordinating very well in most parts of the race. 

On the homestretch, Gidey decided to take matters into her own hand and her burst in pace and long strides just about beat Obiri who otherwise could have caused yet another upset at the World Championships. 

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