He sunk to the tartan, hands on his head, tears forming in his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. Daniel Simiu Ebenyo gave Kenya its first medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest as he earned silver in the men’s 10,000m as Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei defended his crown.
Simiu was the only of three Kenyans to stick to Cheptegei and Ethiopian Selemon Barega as they broke off at the bell, and he was rewarded with a well worked silver.
The youngster dug deep into his energy reserves in the final 50m, surging with a powered sprint to beat Barega on the line, sneaking away with silver as the reigning Olympic champion settled for bronze.
The Kenyan, also a silver medalist from last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, finished in a time of 27:52.60, with Cheptegei defending his crown with a time of 27:51.42, his fastest time this season.
Barega clocked 27:57.72 in third for bronze.
Meanwhile, Bernard Kibet was fifth in 27:56.27 while Nicholas Kimeli, a 5,000m specialist, was eighth in 28:03.38.
The Kenyan duo was dropped off at the ball, when Cheptegei and Barega decided to hit the front with some scorching pace, after a steady pace for most of the final 10 laps.
The Ugandan surged infront and Barega followed. With Kimeli and Kibet failing to respond, it was Ebenyo who punched up his pace, with Ethiopian berihu Aregawi, the fastest man over the distance this year, also stepping up the gas.
It was a four-man race for the podium. At the home stretch however, Aregawi seemed to wane off and Ebenyo picked up his pace like a Rolls Royce, knowing only too well the smell of a medal was not far off.
At the home stretch, it was clear that the medals were picked, and it was now a matter of which color each will wear on his shoulder.
Cheptegei managed to sustain Barega’s push and the latter gave up on catching him up and while he breathed to let go of the fight, Ebenyo saw his opportunity and sneaked on the inside for silver.
