Africa to the fore at inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships

Africa dominated proceedings at the World Athletics Road Running Championships held in Riga, Latvia, over the weekend (Sunday 1 October), with Kenya topping the medal table ahead of long-time rival in running, Ethiopia.

Athletes from over 90 countries took part in the inaugural World Athletics Road Championships, which featured six events on the roads of the Latvian capital – men and women over 1 mile, 5km and the Half Marathon.

Peres Jepchirchir takes gold in the half marathon championships. Photo – World Athletics

Kenyan athletes bounced back after relatively poor performances at the World Athletics Championships marathons in Budapest last month, achieving a remarkable ‘double-clean-sweep’ of the medals in the respective half marathon competitions.

Ethiopia gained medals in the shorter distance events, finishing the championships in second place with 7 medals to Kenya’s 12.

Athletes from several other African countries, including Uganda, Eritrea, Morocco and Burundi featured strongly in the leading results, but it was South Africa who stepped up to deliver their best showing at a world athletics championship in the last two decades with their athletes competitive in all of the events.

South Africa surpassed expectations in the half marathon, their men taking the team bronze medal and the women missing out on the team bronze to Great Britain by just 11 seconds.

Sabastian Sawe takes the tape to win the half marathon title and lead Kenya to a clean-sweep of medals. Photo – World Athletics

Leading Kenyan athlete, Sabastian Sawe, powered past fellow countryman, Daniel Ebenyo, just 100 metres from the finish line to take the gold medal in 59:10, 12 seconds off his best for the distance. Ebenyo finished four seconds later with the third Kenyan, Samwel Mailu, third another five seconds back.

Jebel Mekonnen of Ethiopia gave up the struggle to gain a podium position in the final stages of the race, finishing fourth, just three seconds behind Mailu, with French athlete, Jimmy Gressier, edging out South Africa’s Thabang Mosiaklo, for fifth.

Strong performances from Stephen Mokoka (11^th), running in his eighth world championships, Elroy Gelant (13^th) and Precious Mashele (19^th) gave the South Africans the rare feat of delivering four athletes in the top twenty and clinch the team bronze behind their east African rivals.

Peres Jepchirchir has swept all before her in recent years, including the marathon gold at the Japanese Olympics in 2021, and the half marathon title in Poland in 2020, and the 30-year-old did nothing to spoil her reputation, winning in 1:07:25. But this title didn’t come easily and Jepchirchir had to contend with huge pressure from her teammate of the same age, Margaret Kipkemboi, who pushed her all the way and finished a mere stride-length back, one second down.

Catherin Reline Amanang’ole scored a medal for the youth brigade, with the 20-year-old Kenyan eight seconds back in third place, keeping out the top Ethiopian, Tsigie Gebreselama.

Kenya were a shoe-in for team gold, with Ethiopia some way back for the silver.  Great Britain’s leading pair, Calli Thackeray and Sam Harrison, impressed with their front-running in the lead pack for much of the race, and although their third runner, Clara Evans, trailed behind the impressive South African trio of Cacisile Sosibo (10^th), Glenrose Xaba (12^th) and Cian Oldknow (15^th), their 7^th and 9^th places respectively proved enough to edge South Africa out of bronze medal position by just 11 seconds.

Hagos Gebrhiwet wins the 5km for Ethiopia. Photo – World Athletics

South Africa’s Maxime Chaumeton led the field in the 5km race through the first 2km before the east Africans took over in the latter part of the race. Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet and Yomif Kejelcha took gold and silver in 12:59 and 13:02, ahead of Kenyan Nicholas Kipkorir. Eritrean Dawit Seare finished just 5 seconds off the podium in 4^th, ahead of the second Kenyan, Cornelkius Kemboi, French athlete Etienne Daguinos and Aussie Morgan McDonald who finished in a bunch in 5^th to 7^th.

Beatrice Chebet was the class act of the women’s race, winning comfortably in 14:35, four seconds clear of her teammate, Lilian Rengeruk with Ethiopians Ejgayehu Taye and Medina Eisa just seconds back in 3^rd and 4^th.

Ukranian-born Nadia Battocletti, now running for Italy, impressed with a close 6^th place ahead of the Ugandan pair of Joy Cheptoyek and Weini Frezghi while South Africans Tayla Kavanagh and Kyla Jacobs finished together in 15^th and 16^th respectively.

South Africa’s middle distance track star, Ryan Mphahlele, led the field early on in the street mile and was Africa’s leading finisher in 6h place in 3:57,35, a second behind world-record breaking American Hobbs Kessler (3:56,13). Britain’s Callum Elson took silver ahead of another American Samuel Prakel.

Africa bounced back in the women’s mile, with Ethiopian Diribe Welteji a clear winner in 4:20,98 with her compatriot Freweyni Hailu taking silver.  Race favourite and athlete of the season, Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, was clearly feeling the effects of a long season, and had to settle for bronze.

Top South African coach and former distance-running great, Henrdick Ramaala, pointed to South Africa’s resurgence as a sign the country’s distance running programme is back on track.

“It was good! Our guys were competitive in all the distances and proved that distance running is still alive in South Africa.  For this one the guys were well prepared – the team was selected well in advance and the best athletes were selected and available.”

Ramaala pointed to the long season which might have taken the edge of the performances of a number of athletes and likely led to the relatively slow times in most of the events.

“Precious (Mashele) set a 10 km record in April and he has been racing since then – it’s been almost six months and the guys now need to rest. You could see that with other athletes as well, such as Faith Kipyegon.

“But the results will give a boost for South African distance running and bodes well for the marathon and longer track races at next year’s Paris Olympics.  I feel that next week’s Sanlam Cape Town Marathon will also give us hope for next year.”