World Athletics Championships: Uganda's Nanyondo through to 1,500m semis

2022 WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 🇺🇸

📍 Hayward Field - Eugene, USA
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Winnie Nanyondo was the first Team Uganda athlete to compete at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in the US city of Eugene in Oregon, as the much-anticipated 10-day competition got under way on Friday (July 15).

Racing inside a Hayward Field baked in glorious evening (US time) heat, the 28-year-old Ugandan competed in the third - and last - heat of the women's 1,500m heats for a place in the semi final.

Six automatic spots were up for grabs in each of the three heats, and Nanyondo appeared to show intent of securing one of them with a strong, bold start in her race -  but only to tire in the last 30 metres to finish just outside the top six.

But she was fortunate that hers was the fastest heat, and her 4:03.81 time in seventh place was enough to send her through to the semis among the next six fastest.

Nanyondo, who has also competed in the 800m event before, went in front at the gun in a race featuring Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, Kenyan Winny Chebet and Australian Linden Hall.

She led the pack through the opening lap, before easing off into third place as the three-and-three-quarter-lap race unfolded.

Nanyondo (back) remained with the leading pack

Tsegay moved to the front, with Hall very much interested, as the front pack created some gulf with the chasing group - Nanyondo more than keen to remain embedded in the front pack.

In the late stages of this tactical race, the Ugandan runner may not have sensed a marauding Cory Ann McGee drawing close behind - and with only metres to go, she surrendered the sixth automatic spot to the American in a blistering heat.

Despite that late implosion after staying in a qualification position for most of the race, Nanyondo, whose season's best time is 4:00.25, was already safe.

Some of her compatriots will be competing in other events at the championships this weekend:

- Peruth Chemutai in the women's 3,000m steeplechase heats (Saturday, 8:50pm)
- Mercyline Chelangat in the women's 10,000m final (Saturday, 10:20pm)
- Ronald Musagala in the men's 1,500m heats (Sunday, 4:52am)
- Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo in the men's 10,000m final (Sunday, 11pm)

(All listed times are Ugandan time).

In the first two races of the women's 1,500m qualification round, Ethiopian Hirut Meshesha, Laura Muir of Great Britain and Australian Georgia Griffith led the automatic finishing group in heat one, the slowest of the three heats.

In the second heat, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon - the Olympic champion - made easy work of the race by finishing first ahead of the likes of Jessica Hull of Australia and Ethiopian Freweyni Hailu.

Dutch Sifan Hassan (3:51.95) is the defending champion of this event while Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba (3:50.07) is the world record holder (set in 2015).

It is the first time the outdoor World Athletics Championships - a track and field competition - are hosted in the US.

Organisers say the competition is a celebration of "diversity, human potential and athletic achievement".

Meanwhile, the first gold medal in Oregon was secured by Peruvian Kimberly Garcia Leon in the women's 20km race walk.

She crossed the line ahead of Katarzyna Zdzieblo (silver) of Poland and China's Shijie Qieyang, who took bronze after a punishing race under the sweltering elements.

Japan's Toshikazu Yamanishi won the men's 20km race walk to take the second gold of the championships, with compatriot Koki Ikeda and Sweden's Perseus Karlstrom securing silver and bronze, respectively.

The closing event of day one was the final of the mixed 4x400m relay (5:50am Ugandan time), where there were more medal winners.

This enthralling relay final featured defending champions USA, Italy, Nigeria, Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Jamaica and Poland.

Eventually, it was Team Dominican Republic who took gold, with Team Netherlands and Team USA taking silver and bronze, respectively.

Meanwhile, the World Athletics Council selected Japan's capital Tokyo to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships.

Tokyo beat Nairobi (Kenya), Silesia (Poland) and Singapore in the race to host athletics' biggest event.

World Athletics said all the candidates were "deemed strong enough and experienced enough to host the event", but that the Japanese capital "scored the highest of the four candidates in the bid evaluation across the four focused areas" below:

- The potential for a powerful narrative
- Revenue generating opportunities for World Athletics
- A destination that will enhance the international profile of the sport
- Appropriate climate.

The council also announced that the 2024 World Athletics Cross Country Championships will be held in Medulin and Pula in Croatia while the 2026 edition will take place in the US city of Tallahassee, Florida.
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📸  Take a look at pictures from the opening day:

OPENING CEREMONY AT HAYWARD FIELD

Legend is the championships' mascot

Second gentleman of the United States Douglas Emhoff greets spectators

MEN'S HAMMER THROW QUALIFICATION

Mykhaylo Kokhan of Team Ukraine

Rudy Winkler of Team United States

Pawel Fajdek of Team Poland

MEN'S HIGH JUMP QUALIFICATION

Luis Enrique Zayas of Team Cuba

Ryoichi Akamatsu of Team Japan

Gianmarco Tamberi of Team Italy

Mateusz Przybylko of Team Germany

Joel Clarke-Khan of Team Great Britain

Mutaz Essa Barshim of Team Qatar

Tomohiro Shinno of Team Japan

President of World Athletics Sebastian Coe is seen on day one

WOMEN'S HAMMER THROW QUALIFICATION

Team Finland's Krista Tervo

Jiangyan Li of Team China

Zalina Marghieva of Team Moldova

MIXED 4X400M RELAY HEATS

USA's Wadeline Jonathas crosses the finish line in the mixed 4x400m relay heats

MEN'S 100M HEATS

Dorian Keletela of Team Athlete Refugee (C) competes in Heat 4

Team Guyana's Emanuel Archibald (R) crosses the finish line in his heat

Craig Gill of Team Gibraltar and Hussein Ali Al Khafaji of Team Iraq

WOMEN'S WALK RACE FINAL

Kimberly Garcia Leon of Team Peru, Hong Liu and Shijie Qieyang of Team China compete

Evelyn Inga of Team Peru competes

Kimberly Garcia Leon of Team Peru crosses the line to win gold

Silver medalist Katarzyna Zdzieblo of Team Poland, gold medalist Kimberly Garcia Leon of Team Peru, and bronze medalist Shijie Qieyang of Team China

MEN'S RACE WALK FINAL

Samuel Kireri Gathimba of Team Kenya competes

Perseus Karlstrom of Team Sweden cools down

Toshikazu Yamanishi of Team Japan celebrates winning gold

From left, silver medalist Koki Ikeda of Team Japan, bronze medalist Perseus Karlstrom of Team Sweden and gold medalist Toshikazu Yamanishi of Team Japan

The races continue . . .