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Kipsiro finishes 10th after falling in final
Kipsiro runs close to eventual winner Mo Farah (R) on Saturday night.
What you need to know:
Jane Suuto finishes 93rd in women’s marathon as US-based middle distance runner Mutekanga prepares to compete in 800m heats today.
London
In the end, the weight of expectation from 35 million people proved too much. Moses Kipsiro, Uganda’s best Olympics medal medal hope, finished 10th at the in 10000m, in a time of 27:39.22 of the Olympics final to compete a poor week for Team Uganda.
The double Commonwealth medalist has been an angry man going into the Games, and no one knows how much it affected his performance on Saturday night.
The Bukwo runner blanked Ugandan journalists in the mixed zone, walking through into the athletes zone without saying a word. “Do not expect medals,” he had warned earlier. But he can’t be accused of not trying.
Initially, he tried to run a controlled race by staying in touching distance with a rich cluster than included the great Kenenisa Bekele and eventual winner Mo Farah. But when he fell down early, his race was as good as done. “That was the end of him,” said coach Faustin Kiwa. “In long distance running, you can’t recover after falling down.”
Kipsiro soldiered on to finish 10th, which meant he matched Boniface Kiprop’s run in the 10000m final at the Beijing Olympics.
Thomas Ayeko, the other Ugandan in the race, was 16th. In his first Olympics, he wasn’t disappointed with himself. “It was a tough race and I was carrying an injury,” he said afterwards. It is a learning curve for Ayeko; one he will seek to build upon at the 2014 Commonwealth Glasgow in Glasgow. Earlier, Dorcus Inzikuru’s return to the big stage ended in a familiar pattern for Uganda.
Competing in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, Inzikuru’s time of left 9:35.29 was well outside her personal best of 9:15.04.
Inzzi finished 7th in her Heat, and 20th overall. Only the best 14 made the final. She blamed the new shoes she wore that caused ‘uncomfortable running.’ Yesterday Jane Suuto finished 93rd in 119 athletes. She posted a time of 2:44:46, far away from Ethiopian winner Tiki Gelana who made a new olympic record (2:23:07).
Today, Julius Mutekanga, who runs in lane 4 of Heat 7, says his primary goal is to advance to the next round of the 800m.
The US-based runner is in buoyant mood. “The body is feeling great and I’m mentally prepared.” “I have analysed where I want to be at 200m, 300, 400, 500 and 600. My first goal is to get to the next round, the other is beating my personal best 1:46.30.”
After Saturday’s debacle Kipsiro will now turn his attention to the 5000m. The semifinals are due Wednesday and the finals on Sunday. It’s in the 5000m that Kipsiro won a World Championships bronze in 2007.
