NAKAAYI: I knew something special was going to happen

🇺🇬 Monday
⏭ 800M Final  – Nakaayi 1st (GOLD), Nanyondo 4th

Today 6.15pm
3000m Steeplechase H Ben Kiplagat | Albert Chemutai | Abel Sikowu

Tomorrow
Women’s 1500m S Winnie Nanyondo | Esther Chebet
Women’s 5000m  F Sarah Chebet

Thursday
Men’s 1500m H Ronald Musagala
Women’s 1500m F Winnie Nanyondo | Esther Chebet

Friday
Men’s 1500m S Ronald Musagala
3000m Steeplechase F Ben Kiplagat | Albert Chemutai | Abel Sikowu

Saturday
Marathon  F – Stephen Kiptrotich | Fred Musobo | Solomon Mutai

Doha, Qatar | AFP | New World 800m athletics champion Halimah Nakaayi has said she had a feeling something great would happen in the race, that is why she kept pushing even when it seemed  pre-race favourite Ajee Wilson of the United States was running to victory.

“I was feeling so good, I knew something special was going to happen tonight,” said Nakaayi in an interview with iaaf.org. “So I just kept pushing and pushing. I was feeling strong and in the end I got it.”

Nakaayi, 24, timed her race to perfection moving onto the shoulder of leader Ajee Wilson on the bend before kicking for home down the stretch. (video bottom)

It however required a national record before she could take gold in 1min 58.04sec, with the fast-finishing Raevyn Rogers of the United States taking silver in 1:58.18. Nakaayi held the previous mark of 1:58.39 set last year in France.

It is only the second World Championship athletics medal by a Ugandan woman, the first having been Dorcus Inzikuru’s gold in the 3000m steeplechase 14 years ago in Helsinki.

With Winnie Nanyondo in fourth place, it is also Uganda’s best performance ever in a single race of the World Championships. Nakaayi takes the top prize of $60,000 (tax free) while Nanyondo won $15,000.

Uganda had until tonight only won 2 Gold medals by Inzikuru Helsinki 2005 and Stephen Kiprotich Moscow 2013; 2 Silvers by Davis Kamoga Athens 1997 and Joshua Cheptegei 2017, and Bronzes by Moses Kipsiro Osaka 2007 and Solomon Mutai in Beijing.

Uganda’s other gold medal favourite  Joshua Cheptegei (left) will run the 10,000m on the final day October 6, a day after Stephen Kiprotich in the marathon.

Kiprotich returns for his third World Athletics Championships marathon – an event at which he stormed to Gold in Moscow in 2013. This was a year after becoming the first Ugandan to win Olympic Gold since John Akii Bua, at London 2012.

Uganda’s best bet for a medal however is in 23-year-old Cheptegei who will this time focus on one race, unlike the two he aimed for at the last championships in London 2017.

The Ugandan ace came second behind legend Mo Farah in London in 2017 (video bottom), and will be the favourite for gold in the absence of the 36-year-old who has turned his attention to marathons.

A total of 1,972 athletes from 208 countries and territories will compete in the championships, which are seen as an important staging post as Qatar prepares for the challenge of hosting football’s World Cup in 2022.

With the bulk of the competition taking place at the fully air-conditioned Khalifa Stadium, most athletes will be shielded from the sizzling heat in Doha, where temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

✳Prize Money (tax free in Uganda)
1st $60,000
2nd $30,000
3rd $20,000
4th $15,000
5th $10,000
6th $6,000
7th $5,000
8th $4,000

Ugandan team in DOHA – Women (10)
400 Metres
Leni SHIDA
800 Metres
Halimah NAKAAYI
Winnie NANYONDO
1500 Metres
Esther CHEBET
Winnie NANYONDO
5000 Metres
Sarah CHELANGAT
10,000 Metres
Rachael Zena CHEBET
Juliet CHEKWEL
Stella CHESANG
Marathon
Linet Toroitich CHEBET
3000 Metres Steeplechase
Peruth Chemutai

Men (12)
1500 Metres
Ronald MUSAGALA
5000 Metres
Oscar CHELIMO
Stephen KISSA
10,000 Metres
Joshua CHEPTEGEI
Jacob KIPLIMO 1
Abdallah Kibet MANDE
Marathon
Stephen KIPROTICH
Fred MUSOBO
Solomon MUTAI
3000 Metres Steeplechase
Albert CHEMUTAI
Benjamin KIPLAGAT
Boniface Abel SIKOWO

WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019 Wc Timetable by The Independent Magazine on Scribd