Long distance runner Stella Chesang came fourth in the women’s 10000-meter distance finals at the ongoing 2022 Commonwealth Games. Chesang, who entered the race as the defending champion, failed to live up to expectations and fell to Scotland’s Eilish McColgan, who had one of her lifetime races.
The 2018 gold medalist crossed the finish line in 31 minutes, 14 seconds and 14 microseconds behind McColgan, who clocked 30:48.60 to beat off competition from Kenya’s duo of Irene Cheptai and Sheila Kiprotich in second and third positions, respectively.
The highly contested race started at a low speed and gained momentum after the first four laps. Chesang grabbed the fourth position, which she held for the first half of the race and onwards. After 18 laps, the competition remained between Kenya’s pair and the Scottish athlete.
In the last two laps, Chesang had a chance to enter the medal mix when Kenya’s Kiprotich started limping. Chesang lost momentum and failed to capitalize on Kiprotich’s limp. The other Ugandan in the field, Rachel Chebet, had a disappointing night when the leaders overlapped her to come 10th in 32:30.95.
Netball
Meanwhile, the national netball team, the She Cranes, defeated Northern Ireland 63-26 to clinch a point in third place in Pool B, behind New Zealand and England in first and second positions respectively. New Zealand and England will play today to determine who will finish top of Group B. Both teams have qualified for the semifinals slated for this Saturday.
England are the defending champions of netball in the Commonwealth Games, having won the title in 2018. They play their last group match against Malawi later today to determine whether or not they will play against South Africa, also in third place in Pool A, to compete for the fifth and sixth positions in the Games.
The team will have to put up a spirited fight against Malawi, which is ranked world number seven. The Malawi Queens defeated six-ranked Uganda 55-44 at the 2019 Netball World Cup. So the She Cranes will enter the contest, bidding to exact revenge.
