Benson Kiplagat won the first gold for Kenya at the ongoing world under 20 athletics championships at the Kasarani stadium.
Kplagat won the title, retaining Kenya’s gold that was won by Edward Zakayo Pingua in Tampere, Finland in 2018 with Levy Kibet winning bronze in men’s 5,000m as Ethiopian Tadese Worku sneaked in the second for silver.
Kiplagat won the title with personal best of 13:20.37 ahead of Worku’s 13:20.65 with Kibet completing the podium timing 13:26.01.
“Am so excited with the gold medal that I did not expect but good preparations earned me the title. I am really excited for the gold medal. I didn’t know that I will win the race but it has just come as a surprise. I told my compatriot to pray before competing and God has really worked for us,” said Kiplagat.
Third placed Kibet said that he was satisfied with the bronze.
“Winning bronze medal was not and this is a good start for my career. I wanted to be in the podium and we had planned to push the pace in turns and it worked. We saw yesterday what they did in the 3,000m race and we couldn’t allow that today. It’s great to bag a gold medal,” Kibet.