(From IAAF web-site)
The boys’ 10,000m race walk was a historic race for several reasons.
Not only did Zhang Yao win China’s first world U18 title in this discipline, but Dominic Ndigiti earned Kenya’s first global championships medal in a race walking event.
At the beginning, Sanjay Kumar seemed intent on making a similar piece of history for India and shot to the front, covering the first lap in 1:24 and the first 1000 metres in 3:44.76, well inside world U18 best pace. He was closely followed by Ndigiti and the pair had already built up a lead of 100 metres within the first kilometre.
Thankfully the pace soon started to settle and they covered the second kilometre in a more sensible 4:05. The chase pack, led by Ethiopia’s Meseret Ayelign, was still 22 seconds adrift, but they were operating at a more even tempo.
The pace slipped further in the third kilometre as Kumar and Ndigiti covered that section in 4:13. Salavat Ilkaev and Sergey Kozhevnikov, competing as neutral athletes, and Yao made up ground on the lead pair after a 4:07 kilometre.
Sixteen minutes into the race, Kumar was called into the pit lane for two minutes after being shown three red cards for loss of contact. It meant that Ndigiti was left alone out in front and, having passed 4000m in 16:22.77, his lead was down to eight seconds.
Within the space of two laps, Yao had closed the gap on Ndigiti and moved on to the Kenyan’s shoulder with Ilkaev close behind. At half way, passed in 20:35.58, a lead pack of five athletes had formed as Kozhevnikov and Guatemala’s Jose Ortiz joined Ndigiti, Yao and Ilkaev.
The quintet strode together for three more kilometres before Yao darted to the front. He was followed by Ilkaev but had a comfortable lead and continued to pull away from his opponents.
Yao was away and clear, while Ilkaev was safe in the silver medal position, but with two laps to go, Kozhevnikov moved alongside Ndigiti in the battle for bronze.
Yao crossed the line in a world U18 leading 41:12.01 with Ilkaev taking silver in 41:24.17. Cheered on by an enthusiastic home crowd, Ndigiti doggedly held on to his position and made up a lot of ground on Ilkaev, eventually finishing third in 41:25.78. Kozhevnikov finished fourth in 41:26.65.
“The race went as planned,” said Zhang. “My strategy was to follow in the first two kilometres of the race and then lead in the last two kilometres, which worked.”
Ndigiti, meanwhile, was delighted with his performance. “I used a lot of energy since I lacked a teammate to pace for me,” he said. “That made me slow down on my last lap because I couldn't sprint anymore. However, I am happy to deliver Kenya a medal in such an event.”
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
Glenda Morejon became only the second Ecuadorian to win a world U18 title when she took the win in the girls' 5000m race walk on Saturday morning in Nairobi.
Morejon entered the competition as the fastest in the world, but with her lack of international experience, there might have been doubt as to whether she was the favourite. But her sensible tactical performance took her to a historic win in a time of 22:32.30.
It was a close call, however, as the race was not decided until the final few metres. Meryem Bekmez of Turkey finished half a stride behind in 22:32.79 in what was the closest race walk finish in World U18 Championships history. Both gold and silver medallists won the first ever medals for their countries at any global championship in female race walking events.
The bronze went to Elvira Khasanova, competing as neutral athlete. Khasanova was not far behind the top two, either, finishing in 22:35.72.
Kenya's Lenah Nanjala shot into the lead before the race walkers completed their first lap, but was soon caught by the pack. Nobody was willing to make an early move after that, and the leading group, featuring all the main favourites, continued at a steady pace. One kilometre was reached in 4:35.76 and two kilometres in 9:17.81, with more than a dozen athletes still together at that point.
China’s Zhang Xiaole was the first to inject more pace into the proceedings during the third kilometre, the result being the shrinking of the leading group to just five race walkers. Morejon assumed the pacing duties before the three-kilometre mark was reached, leading the small pack including Zhang, Bekmez and the two neutral athletes: Khasanova and Ekaterina Gorshenina.
The pace got progressively faster. After a third kilometre of 4:35, the fourth took just 4:24. First Gorshenina, then Zhang began to lose contact with the leaders. With three girls now comfortably ahead in the medal positions, only the order of the top three was still in doubt.
The race went down to the wire. The three leaders were still together half a lap before the finish line. Khasanova was the first to let go on the curve. Morejon and Bekmez entered the home straight neck and neck, and it remained that way for the majority of the final 100 metres. It was only in the final 10 metres that Morejon finally pulled away slightly, crossing the line in 22:32.30, with the final kilometre taking just 4:15.
Bekmez followed just 0.49 seconds later, and Khasanova was only 3.42 in arrears.
What made Khasanova's medal all the more impressive is that she only switched to race walking last year, having previously been a shooter.
The race for fourth almost ended in a photo-finish. As Zhang started to fade, Gorshenina nearly caught her, but in the end had to be content with fifth place in 23:05.77, just 0.16 behind the Chinese athlete.
Pawel Jackowski for the IAAF