Athletics

Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai produced a masterclass performance to win the women’s 3,000m steeplechase at the Shanghai Diamond League on Saturday, 16 May, setting a new meeting record and world lead after a dramatic sprint finish against Kenya’s Faith Cherotich.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsChemutai crossed the line in 8:51.47 in a race that went down to the final metre. In the process, she eclipsed the previous meeting record of 9:07.36 set by Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet in April 2024. Shanghai DL: Faith Kipyegon storms to world lead to win 5,000mThe Paris Olympic silver medallist led from the front and held her nerve in the closing stages to secure victory in style.Cherotich was equally impressive, pushing Chemutai all the way to the line in one of the season’s most intense duels. ##NAJAVA_MECA_9750053##The youngster, who holds a personal best of 8:48.71, settled for second place but still delivered a season-best 8:51.48, missing out on victory by just a fraction of a second.Tu..

Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, continued his strong start to the season after clocking yet another sub-10 performance, running 9.98 seconds to finish second in the men’s 100m at the Shanghai Diamond League held on Saturday, 16 May.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsOmanyala, who arrived in Shanghai fresh from anchoring Kenya’s 4x100m relay team to a national record at the World Athletics Relays in Botswana, got off the blocks sharply and looked in control through the early phases. However, South Africa’s Gift Leotlela proved strongest down the home straight to clinch victory in the tightly contested sprint in 9.97 seconds.Gift Leotlela 🇿🇦 stuns the men’s 100m field at the Shanghai Diamond League, winning in 9.97s (0.6)!2. Ferdinand Omanyala 🇰🇪 9.983. Kenny Bednarek 🇺🇸 9.984. Trayvon Bromell 🇺🇸 10.015. Lachlan Kennedy 🇦🇺 10.016. Akani Simbine 🇿🇦 10.05pic.twitter.com/htxpRuMd7l— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) May 16, 2026 The race was decided by hundredths of a..

Triple Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon underlined her fine form with a stunning world-leading performance to win the women’s 5,000m at the opening leg of the 2026 Diamond League in Shanghai on Saturday, 16 May.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsThe Kaptagat-based athlete, better known for her dominance in the 1,500m, proved once again that she is equally formidable over the longer distance after clocking 14:05.20 in a thrilling photo finish to secure victory in the star-studded race.Shanghai DL: Omanyala sprints to another sub-10 as Gift Leotlela shinesEthiopia’s Likina Amebaw came in second in a personal best of 14:30:54 while her country-mate Getachew Senayet completed the podium in a personal best of 14:24:71.Another Kenyan, Caroline Nyaga, finished ninth, while Maurine Chebor finished eleventh.##NAJAVA_MECA_9750107##Heading into the race, Kipyegon was among the athletes to watch as the 2026 Diamond League season got underway, and she lived up to the billing in emphatic fas..

Fast-rising Diana Wanza made a statement win on debut at the African Senior Athletics Championships in Ghana, delivering Kenya’s third gold medal as she won the women’s 10,000m in a time of 31:33.26.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsGoing up against a stellar field of 17, Wanza, who had won the Kenyan trials to the Championships and followed it up with victory in the 5000m at the Kip Keino Classic in a new best time in the distance of 15:28.91, controlled the race to cross the finish line first.Omanyala, Kipyegon and Cherotich set for Diamond League lift off in ShanghaiThe Kenyan beat Florence Niyonkuru, who took silver in 31:43.73, earning Rwanda’s second medal of the competition after Emeline Imanizabayo claimed the country’s first-ever gold of the continental championships on Wednesday, 13 May. Asefu Abrha Kiros of Ethiopia completed the podium in 31:45.91.Despite being a debutant on the continental front, Wanza says she was determined to represent the country well and had..

Olympic champions Noah Lyles and Rai Benjamin will be among the headline acts at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix when the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting returns to Tokyo’s National Stadium on Sunday, 17 May.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsFor many of the leading athletes in action, the meeting offers an early-season opportunity to return to the venue that staged last year’s World Athletics Championships.For others, it will be a chance to build on strong starts to 2026.Lyles will contest his first 100m of the season, returning to the stadium where he won his first Olympic medal five years ago.Omanyala, Kipyegon and Cherotich set for Diamond League lift off in ShanghaiNow a four-time world 200m champion and Olympic 100m champion, the US sprinter opened his outdoor campaign in Gainesville last month with a 19.91 run over 200m and a 37.78 victory in the 4x100m.He will be joined by Canada’s Jerome Blake, the Olympic 4x100m champion who opened his individual season wit..

Officials from Ghana Athletics have responded after growing criticism over the organization of the ongoing 2026 CAA African Senior Athletics Championships intensified following a frightening pole vault incident at the University of Ghana Sports Stadium.Download Our Mozzart Sport App for More NewsThe alarming moment occurred on Day Two of the continental championships when a pole vaulter’s pole snapped mid-air during competition, causing the athlete to crash headfirst onto the track after missing the landing mat.In a video shared by Sporty FM on X on Wednesday, 13 May, the athlete was seen accelerating towards the bar before planting the pole for take-off.##NAJAVA_MECA_9750631##However, moments later, the pole suddenly broke into two pieces while he was airborne, leading to a terrifying fall that left spectators stunned.Fortunately, the athlete appeared to escape serious injury and was later seen walking away with officials before preparing for another attempt.The incident immediately s..

Three-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon will begin her 2026 outdoor campaign with a step up in distance, confirming she will compete in the women’s 5000m at the Shanghai Diamond League meet in Keqiao on Saturday, 16 May.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsWidely regarded as one of the greatest middle-distance runners in history, Kipyegon has built her legacy around the 1500m, where she has dominated the global stage. In recent years, she has been embracing longer distances.Kenya ends 14-year wait for African men’s 10,000m gold in AccraKipyegon heads into 2026 carrying the confidence of an impressive 2025 season that saw her secure a fifth world title in the 1500m while also pursuing a bold sub-four-minute mile attempt in collaboration with Nike.Opening her season in the 5000m, she explained that the move is part of a deliberate strategy to strengthen her endurance and test herself outside her comfort zone.##NAJAVA_MECA_9744411##“I wanted to challenge myself early in th..

Reigning world 800m champion Lilian Odira has explained why she chose to stretch herself across five different races during the Kenya Prisons Track and Field Championships held on Saturday, 9 May at the Ulinzi Sports Complex.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsOdira, who has quickly established herself as one of Kenya’s leading middle-distance runners, opened her campaign in the 1500m, before going on to dominate the women’s 400m and 800m finals. She later capped off a busy outing by turning out in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relay races for Kenya Prisons.While competing in multiple events may have raised eyebrows, the Tokyo world champion revealed that the strategy is part of her preparations for a demanding 2026 season.Kenya ends 14-year wait for African men’s 10,000m gold in Accra“So far, my body is responding well after opening my season at the Kip Keino Classic, and we are still working on the endurance. That’s why you saw me in the 1500m, the 400m, so we are balancing both..

Kenya ended a 14-year wait for the African men’s 10,000 metres title after Kelvin Chesang stormed to victory at the African Senior Athletics Championships in Accra, Ghana, on Wednesday evening.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsChesang produced a powerful finish in a tightly contested race to clinch gold in 28:30.44, narrowly edging Ethiopia’s Hagos Eyob Gared, who settled for silver after clocking 28:30.57.Kenya further strengthened its dominance in the race through Silas Senchura, who secured bronze in 28:32.66 to ensure two Kenyans finished on the podium.##NAJAVA_MECA_9747514##The victory marked a major milestone for Team Kenya, who had gone 14 years without winning the continental men’s 10,000m crown.Kenya last won the title in 2012 through Kenneth Kipkemoi during the championships held in Porto-Novo, Benin.Kenya bagged gold and bronze medals in the men’s 10,000m and a silver in Decathlon at the ongoing CAA Championships. In men’s 10,000m finals Kelvin Chesang took the tit..

Kenyan long-distance sensation Sabastian Sawe will return to the Berlin Marathon in September looking to defend his crown and possibly lower his own historic world record.Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsRace organisers confirmed on Wednesday that the 31-year-old will headline the 27 September event, months after becoming the first athlete in history to complete a marathon in under two hours.Sawe stunned the athletics world in April when he clocked 1:59:30 at the London Marathon, breaking the previous world record while running in a newly developed model of super shoes.##NAJAVA_MECA_97446690##The Kenyan now heads to Berlin, a course widely regarded as one of the fastest in the world, with speculation already growing over whether he can push the record even further.Sawe won last year’s Berlin Marathon in 2:02:16 despite difficult, hot and humid conditions in the German capital.“I am very happy to return to the Berlin Marathon this year and defend my title,” Sawe said in a sta..