Cheruiyot Wins African 5K Title

Reigning women’s world champion uses last-lap sprint to claim victory.

Putting the pedal to the medal over the final 400 meters, Kenyan Vivian Cheruiyot sprinted away from Ethiopians Meseret Defar and Sentayehu Ejigu to claim victory in the women’s 5,000 meters at the African Championships held in Nairobi Thursday night.

Cheruiyot won the race in 16:18.72 to top the field. In other action, Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria won the women’s 100 meters, tying her personal best in 11.03 seconds. The Ivory Coast’s Ben Youssef Meite won the men’s 100 meters in 10.08 seconds — .04 ahead of Ghana’s Zakari Aziz in second. South Africa’s Simon Magakwe claimed third in 10.14 seconds.

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