WU20: Masilingi breaks 100m U20 record as Chebet crashes out in heats

Kenya’s Mercy Chebet has crashed out of the World U20 Championship after finishing second last in heat three of the 100m women. Despite missing out on the chance to progress to the semis she clocked 12.39 in the race to set a new personal best on the track, surpassing her previous best which was 12.60.

The heat was won by Namibia’s fastest rising athlete Beatrice Masilingi who clocked 11.20 seconds to set a new Under 20 world record. Nigerian Tima Seikeseye Godbless finished second while Melissa Gutschmidt of Switzerland finished third. Charlize Eilerd of South Africa took the final qualification slot.

Masilingi who was part of the Namibia team in Tokyo said the whether change has not affected her in any anyway "It wasn't the best the race. Go back and relax and wait for the next races and hopefully I will make to the final. The change of weather from Tokyo to Nairobi doesn't really affect me much," she said.

Placed in lane seven, Chebet appeared overwhelmed at the start as the other athletes took off well but she battled in the closing meters to beat Sumaya Dewan of Bangladesh who finished in the last position.

Chebet, a form two student at Musaria Secondary School Kericho County admitted she was nervous before the race and it affected how she started.

"I didn't get the timing right on the blocks. I was a little bit nervous but I am glad to have represented the country for the first time. The experience sets a base for me as I want to make a career in 400m and 800m in future. As a student, I find it easy to balance studies and education," she said

In heat one, Camille Rutherford of Bahama made it to the final after winning the race in 11.59. She was joined in the semis by Maria Mihalache of Romania, Lirangi Alonzo Tejada of the Dominican Republic, and Andrė Ožechauskaitė Lithuania who took position 2, 3 and 4 respectively.

In heat two Nigeria’s Praise Ofoku won the race after clocking 11.65. She was followed by Jamaica’s Kerrica Hill, Finlands’s Johanna Kylmanen finished third while Guatemala’s Mariandree Chacon took the final qualification slot.

In them men's category, Kenya's sole representative Sylvester Simiyu finished fifth in heat six recording a personal best of 10.66. Despite not progressing to the semis, the youngster was satisfied with his performance. He disclosed that he will further hit the gym to improve himself.

"I am happy to register my personal best although I ran short of energy in the final metres of the race. I want to improve on my finishing and hit the gym more. I really need a gym instructor who will help me gain power. It feels good to be here considering that the far I had reached before was regionals in the school games in 2019. Now that I have gained the experience needed at the global level, I want to do both 100 and 200 as I prepare for the Commonwealth Games," he said.

"There is hope that I can do better as I am drawing inspiration from Ferdinand Omanyala. I really want to emulate him for I have competed and even beaten him before in a 200m," he added

Earlier on, Kenya quartet of Kennedy Kimeu, Sylvia Chelangat, Loice Morara and Elkana Chemelil suffered a heartbreak after they got disqualified from the 4*400 mixed relay for lane violation. Kenya has finished in second position in hit two but the joy was short-lived as they were found guilty violation and got disqualified.