Charity Cherop, Frankline Kibet Win 5,000-Meter Gold Medals; Alessandro Borges Wins Shot Put

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Keith Webber and Tim Healy Photos

INTERVIEWS

EUGENE – As Hayward Field became more and more shrouded in smoke caused by distant wildfires, the athletes at the World Athletics U20 Championships refused to dwell on it and pressed on through a busy first day of competition.

Yes, some of them spat. And coughed. And they felt it.

“The smoke definitely made my lungs almost burn,” said U.S. steeplechaser Sierra Wall, who finished seventh in her semifinal heat and advanced to the final.

The 5,000-meter finals held in the evening were contested on time in 87-degree heat with an air-quality index number near 300, a level that is “very unhealthy.”

Jack Bidwell, a freshman at Michigan who finished 16th in the 5,000, said he has trained in similar smoky conditions back home.

Still, it was easy to connect the scene of Wednesday’s distance races with a date from Hayward Field lore: On Sept. 3, 1974, Steve Prefontaine famously came to the old stadium and ran a 3:58.3 mile in thick smoke caused by field burning, an agricultural practice that used to be common in the Willamette Valley.

Prefontaine coughed up blood afterward, but used a bullhorn to thank the 1,000 people that assembled to watch him work out.

On Wednesday, Charity Cherop of Uganda and Frankline Kibet of Kenya won the gold medals in the 5,000 meters and pressed through the conditions with more important things on their minds.

“I want to win and bring home a gold medal,” Cherop said.

She ran 15:03.88 and held off Ethiopia’s Shito Gumi (15:07.91) and Kenya’s Joyline Chepkemoi (15:09.08) and earned a chance to celebrate with her nation’s flag.

Cherop, who turned 19 last month, took silver two years ago in Lima, Peru.

American Emily Wisniewski, a freshman at North Carolina State who grew up 40 miles north of Eugene in Corvallis, Ore., withdrew from the 5,000 two days ago after she felt soreness in her leg and decided not to push it and risk her cross country season.

Kibet and Nehemiah Kipngeno gave Kenya a 1-2 finish. Kibet ran 13:28.27 and Kipngeno ran 13:30.09.

Ethiopia’s Damitew Kebede took bronze with a personal best 13:35.38.

The University of Oregon’s Juan Gonzalez was 12th in 13:59.00 and Bidwell was 16th in 14:18.90.

In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase semifinal, Kenyan Anatasha Cheptoo took an early lead but then errantly passed the first water jump. By the time Cheptoo caught her mistake she had to turn around and back-track to the alleyway that leads to the barrier and water and had to make up 30 meters on the entire group. She made it all the way back to second in 9:51.02 and advanced to the final. 

Brazil's Alessandro Borges won the men's shot put by four centimeters and the emotion poured out as he celebrated his victory. Borges was dealing with an injury over the past couple months and wasn't sure he would be at his best. 

And it also dawned on him what his victory meant. Two years from now, he just might be returning to the U.S. for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. 

Borges threw a personal best 20.35m personal best. Back home, he trains alongisde two-time Olympian Darlan Romani. 

In the men's and women's 100 meters, the U.S. vs Jamaica storyline resurfaced ahead of Thursday's finals. 

Tate Taylor eased up in his semifinal and still ran 10.05 seconds and he will be joined in the final Thursday by Jamaica's Gary Card, Great Britain's Jake Odey-Jordan, his training partner, and fellow American Kyler Brown. 

Mia and Mariah Maxwell both qualified for the final where they will face a showdown with Jamaican champion Shenoya Douglas. 

In the women's discus, Jaslene Massey of the U.S. qualified safely for the final, which begins Thursday's evening session.