Team Uganda collected her third medal; a bronze, on Friday (August 5) night after Peruth Chemutai recovered from a big fall in the 3,000m steeplechase final to courageously finish the race in third position at the ongoing 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Chemutai, who had stayed on course to win the gold until the unfortunate fall after jumping over a hurdle in the second last lap, clocked 9 minutes 23:24 seconds.
Kenyan Jackline Chepkoech won the race in 9 minutes 15:68 seconds, setting a new Commonwealth Games record and her personal best.
England’s Elizabeth Bird, who greatly benefited from Chemutai’s fall, clinched silver after her running personal best time of 9 minutes 17:17 seconds to finish in second position.
Chemutai, who is the 2020 Olympic champion, becomes the third Ugandan runner after Victor Kiplangat (marathon) and Jacob Kiplimo (10,000m) to win medals in Birmingham. Kiplangat and Kiplimo won gold, though.
Meanwhile, Teddy Nakimuli, Uganda’s only female boxer to the games in Birmingham, will aim at getting to the final of the light weight category when she fights Carly Mc Naul of Northern Ireland on Saturday, August 6.
It will be Nakimuli’s first bout at the National Exhibition Centre after she stormed the semifinals without breaking any sweat on Wednesday. Her scheduled opponent then, Sara Haghighat-Joo of Sierra Leone, failed to make the weight.
A win over Mc Naul in the semifinal bout will earn Nakimuli a shot the gold medal. However, Nakimuli has already made history by becoming the first Ugandan woman boxer to win a bronze medal from the Commonwealth Games.