World Indoors: Zango wins gold, Barega and Tsegay beaten
Burkina Faso's Hugues Fabrice Zango won gold in the triple jump final at the World Indoor Athletics Championships
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Hugues Fabrice Zango has made history for athletics in his country. The Burkinabé won triple jump gold at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow on Saturday 2 March. He becomes the first African world champion in the triple jump. He won ahead of Algeria's Yasser Triki and Portugal's Tiago Pereira with a leap of 17.53 m. After his outdoor gold in Budapest, Zango thus claims his second world medal.
Selemon Barega and Tsegay beaten in the 3000 m
Ethiopia's Selemon Barega (7:43.64) had to settle for bronze in the 3000 metres. The Olympic 10,000 m champion thus loses his title to Belgium's John Heymans. Holder of the Belgian record (13:03.46) since January in Boston, Heymans had earned his place at the World Indoors over the distance printed as "3.000m" in the source, whose separator is retained here, on the strength of his world ranking. America's Yared Nuguse (7:43.59) took 2nd place.
Gudaf Tsegay, the big favourite in the women's 3000 m, failed to defend her title. She had to settle for second place with a time of 8:21.13. The win went to America's Elle St. Pierre in 8:20.80, a new championship record. Kenya's Beatrice Chepkoech finished third in 8:22.68.
A final with a strong African presence
African athletes are well represented in the women's 800 metres semi-finals. The following times retain the source's original colon notation. Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma (1:58:35), Habitam Alemu (1:58:59) will contest the final of the World Indoor Athletics Championships. They are in good company, with Uganda's Halimah Nakaayi (1:58:91), Benin's Noélie Yarigo (1:59:45) and Kenya's Vivian Chebet Kiprotich (1:59:65).