London, UK- Ezekiel Kemboi won Kenya’s first gold medal in track and field at the London Olympics after he came in first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase here today.
Meanwhile, Roba Gari of Ethiopia finished fourth in 8:20.0.
The two-time world champion won his second Olympic title in 8:18.56. His first victory came in eight years earlier at the Athens Olympics.
European champion Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad of France took silver in 8:19.08 and African champion Abel Mutai of Kenya took bronze in 8:19.73..
Mahom Mesfin, Ethiopia’s other representative, finished a disappointing 12th place in 8:35.12.
Men’s 1,500 Semi-Finals
Mekonnen Gebremedhin of Ethiopia advances to the final of the men’s 1,500m on Tuesday after he finished 3rd in Heat 1 of the men’s 1,500m semi-finals here today.
Ethiopians are capable of winning the steeplechase but, they got no skills on how to quickly jump and continue the run, lots of time is being wasted before and after the jump. Train them how to jump and then you will see them winning gold. This is the same reason why both women and man athletes are loosing the medal.
Gari is almost there — he needs to improve his sprinting capacity in the last 200 to 300 meters!!