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Women's 3000m

Women's 3000m

It was just 50 metres from the finish line that Kenya’s Sally Chepyego used her deadly kick to win the women’s 300m final.

Running barefoot, the 16-year old crossed the line in a winning time of 9:09.95 and defeated Ethiopia’s Mestewat Tufa (9:11.95) and her compatriot Fridah Domongole (9:12.95).

The pace was set at a very high level from the first lap with Domongole giving the tempo. She went through the first 400m in 65.47 followed by compatriot Sally Chepyego, Tufa and Morocco’s Mariem Alaoui Selsouli. The four girls who crossed the 1st kilometer mark in the excellent time of 2:54.56 had already built a lead of 10 metres from their opponents.

The first to lose contact with the leading group was Morocco’s Alaoui who couldn’t keep up with the East Africans despite the pace falling off. When Domongole went through the 2nd kilometre mark in 8:01.72 it looked as though it would be an affair between herself and Tufa, Chepyego having lost touch with the two leaders.

But 600m from the line, Chepyego made up the ground and the three girls went through the bell virtually together.

Domongole seemed to be able to control the race she had led from the very start but Tufa accelerated with 180 metres to go. Domongole could not respond and when Tufa entered the home straight, Chepyego was still five metres behind but managed to find the extra strength to overtake Tufa and win the World Youth Championships title.

No less than four girls ran barefoot in this final.

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