Kevin Chesang outkicks Hagos Eyob by 0.13 to win the African 10,000 m title in Accra
Kenya's Chesang ran 28:30.44 on day two of the African Championships at the University of Ghana stadium, with three men inside 2.3 seconds of each other.
The 24th African Senior Athletics Championships are being held at the University of Ghana stadium in Legon, Accra, from 12 to 17 May, and the first distance title on the track went to the wire. In the men's 10,000 m on Wednesday, day two, Kevin Chesang of Kenya won in 28:30.44, thirteen hundredths ahead of Ethiopia's Hagos Eyob, 28:30.57. Silas Senchura of Kenya was third in 28:32.66, Dan Kibet of Uganda fourth in 28:34.97 and Hani Idriss Hersi of Djibouti fifth in 28:41.44.
Nobody was running for time. The times tell you the race was tactical; the margins tell you it was close. Three men inside 2.3 seconds after 25 laps.
The women's 5000 m on the opening day, Tuesday, was tighter still. Emeline Imanizabayo of Rwanda won in 15:46.62 from Samiya Hassan Nour of Djibouti, 15:47.05, with Ziyn Ayelegn of Ethiopia third in 15:47.95. That is 1.33 seconds across the podium, and a title for Rwanda that does not come along often.
The championships run through Sunday. The men's steeplechase is on Thursday, the women's 10,000 m on Friday, and the 1500 m, 5000 m and women's steeplechase finals close the meeting on the last day.
Continental championships in May are not where the fast times live. They are where the medals are decided, which on day two in Ghana meant a 25-lap race settled in the last 100 metres.
Sources: Confederation of African Athletics; World Athletics.
