Kenyans Denis Kipkoech and Diana Chepkwemoi won silver and bronze medals, respectively, on day three of the 20th World Athletics Under-20 Championships early Friday in Lima, Peru.
Kipkoech bagged silver in the 3,000m final, clocking 8 minutes, 20.79 seconds behind Denmark’s Andreas Halvorsen, who clinched gold in 8:20.56 minutes.
Briton Edward Bird won bronze, while another Kenyan, Clinton Kimutai, finished 11th.
Diana Chepkwemoi had earlier yesterday won a bronze in the 3,000m steeplechase final with a personal best time of 9:29.84 minutes.
Sembo Almayew of Ethiopia took gold with a new championship record of 9:12.71, followed by Ugandan Loice Chekwemoi with a silver medal in 9:18.84 minutes.
Another Kenyan, Sharon Chepkemoi, finished 7th, as Kenya lost the title for the 2nd time in 10 editions since the event was introduced at the age group global championship.
In other results for Kenyans yesterday in Lima, Mercy Chepkemoi and Marion Jepng’etich booked their slots in tonight’s 3,000m final.
Mercy, the national champion, won the 1st heat in 9:22.72 minutes, while Marion also sealed her ticket for the final, winning the 2nd heat in 8:52.25 minutes.
African champion Sarah Moraa punched her ticket in today’s 800m final after she won heat 3 of the semis in 2 minutes, 3.44 seconds.
The men’s two-lap final today will involve Kenyans Kelvin Kimutai and Phanuel Kosgei after sailing through in yesterday’s semis.
Ethiopia leads the table with 2 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze, followed in 2nd place by South Africa with 4 medals, 2 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze, while Australia is 3rd with two golds and 2 bronze medals.
The five-day championships, which bring together 1,700 athletes from over 130 nations, will end on Saturday.
