Kenyans shine at championships

KAMPALA: Geoffrey Kamworor retained the men’s title and Irene Cheptai led home five of her compatriots in the women’s race as Kenya dominated the world cross country championships at the Kololo Independence Grounds yesterday.

Kamworor became the first back-to-back winner of the senior men’s 10km race for 11 years as he beat his teammate Leonard Barsoton by 12 seconds to win in 28 minutes 24 seconds.

Kamworor kept his nerve after Ugandan champion Joshua Cheptengei, the home favourite, had burst away from the field and opened a wide gap on the third of the five two-kilometre laps only to fade badly on the last circuit.

Ethiopia’s Abadi Hadis took the bronze medal seven seconds behind Barsoton.

Earlier, Kenya’s women had swept the senior women’s 10km race in unprecedented fashion, with their team filling all the first six places, headed by national champion Cheptai, who maintained her season’s unbeaten record to strike gold in 31:57. – Reuters