(AFP) – Stuck in the limbo of the bitter border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the town of Badme strives to grow even as fresh conflict brews.
Badme was at the heart of a bloody war that pitted the two enemies against each other between 1998 and 200O. A UN commission awarded the town to Eritrea two years later but Ethiopia has not handed it over.
Addis Ababa has vowed to return Badme but wants to negotiate the implementation of the ruling. Meanwhile, war clouds have started gathering again above this sleepy cluster of houses, flanked by sorghum and sesame plots.
Ethiopian infantry and armour are constantly involved in manoeuvres in the area. Eritrea’s military is deployed only a stone’s throw away.
“In some areas, soldiers from both sides are within shooting distance from one another. A single bullet fired can trigger a full-scale war,” says one UN employee on condition of anonymity.
Every month, some Eritreans risk their lives to cross the border and find refuge in Ethiopia. Non-governmental organisations say that between 250 and 300 of them arrive in the Shimbela camp alone every month.
After seven years of “no peace, no war”, Badme is seeking to develop, regardless of its uncertain future.
“The current population of Badme alone is almost 3,500, it is about 7,800 if the surrounding villages are put into consideration,” says Tilahun Gebremedhin, the town’s administrator.
“Population growth has been maintained each year since 2000, when it was around 2,500. This is the result of both settlement from other areas, and from the return of people displaced during the war.”
Some 2,000 people settled in Badme from other parts of the country, he explains.
“The town’s agricultural output has increased by 42 percent, this shows that development plans are well under way,” Tilahun says.
Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi last month said he was beefing up his army on the border with Eritrea for fear of an attack.
Asmara, which gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 following a 30-year war, denied acting aggressively but the escalating rhetoric fueled new fears of a resumption of hostilities between the two arch-foes.
In the eye of the storm, Badme residents obstinately hope that, short of a bona fide implementation of the 2000 Algiers peace agreement, a prolonged status quo will let them carry on with their lives.
“We have been anxious ever since we heard the news that Eritrean troops had infiltrated into the buffer zone and are preparing for war,” says 29-year-old Berihun, who has been living in Badme since 2000.
“But even so, I believe that some solution will be achieved to end all the misunderstanding.”
Gidei, 65, also refuses to imagine that a new war could erupt between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.
“Before arriving here 14 years ago, I was a refugee in Sudan. I became a member of the local militia soon after I arrived”, he says.
“We fought against the Eritrean army when they invaded, but as we were defeated, I had to go southwards and stay for nine months (the length of Eritrean army control).
“I never expected them to take control in the first place, nor did I expect them to stay more than nine months”, he adds.
As much as Badme’s current residents long for stability and hope to see their town turn into a thriving agricultural centre, few of them seem ready to make any concessions to Eritrea.
Tilahun makes little case of the UN commission ruling on Badme.
“It has always been, and always will be Ethiopian territory, we still don’t understand why they (Eritrea) fought against us. It’s just impossible to think otherwise.”
Cambridge dictionary defines it as ‘the spreading of people from one original country to other countries.’ While MSN Encarta writes ‘scattering of language, culture, or people: a dispersion of a people, language, or culture that was formerly concentrated in one place.’ The word ‘Diaspora’ has become a common reference when talking about Ethiopians outside the ‘Home Land.’ I like it because it connotes that there is a place called ‘Home.’
The fall of the Emperor ushered a new era of dispersion of Ethiopians. Starting in later part of the seventies, every decade has shown an increase in the number of immigrants that have left the homeland. We left for both political and/or economic reasons.
We left by plane, by foot, as contract workers, as DV Visa holders, as asylum seekers students and government workers. We will never know how many perished in the jungles and deserts of Africa. We settled legally or illegally. We have become contributing members to our host countries. We are regarded highly by most of our friends and coworkers. We are proud people.
Here in the US we have settled in all 51 States. We have a wide variety of representation in many professions. In some municipality such as Washington DC, Los Angles, Seattle, we have carved out our own niche; represented by U Street, Little Ethiopia, and 12th.St. This shows our resourcefulness and how we are capable of coming together.
What is unique about us is that we cannot live without each other. When one travels the length and breath of this country, it will be impossible to find an Ethiopian alone. Our magnetic field is very strong.
On occasion we engage in self-flagellation. We complain about “Abesha this and Abesha that”, but at the very moment we are eating Kitfo in an Ethiopian establishment with our Ethiopian friends. We have been known to whine a lot.
The Diaspora dreams about home. The thought of going back home seems to be an essential part of living. We contribute a considerable amount by injecting much needed foreign currency into the economy. We have two weekly Ethiopian Airlines flights from Washington DC to Addis Ababa. The Diaspora spends millions for home construction, hotel expenses, assistance to family members, philanthropy and others. The Diaspora from North America, Africa, Europe, Australia or the Middle East consistently pours millions to help our country. The Diaspora where ever they may reside, love their country.
During the dark days of the Military Dictatorship the Diaspora was in disarray. Red terror was a dark moment in our history. ESUNA disintegrated, and EPRP was destroyed from within and without. The arrival of TPLF was welcomed. Some in the Diaspora uprooted and went home. It was a time of hope. The ‘Prague Spring’ was short lived. The new masters were just the other side of the same ugly coin.
Then it was time for the famous 2005 ‘General Election.’ Kinijit was a ray of light. We all said in unison ‘it is time to rebuild our country.’ Our hopes were quashed. The nightmare years are not over.
Aftermath of the election brought the well-documented massacre of July, and of November and imprisonment of all opposition party officials, active members, Civic leaders, Journalists and Human Right advocates. Zuwai, Sendafa, Bir Shelko, Dedessa, Shoa Robit, and Kolfe will live in infamy.
Following our rich tradition, we in the Diaspora rose up and spoke for our people. Support Chapters were formed in every continent. Marches were organized in every major city on the planet. Cape Town, Paris, Stockholm, Oslo, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Geneva, Washington DC, Dallas, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Houston, Denver, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angles, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver BC, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Melbourne, Perth, and Tel Aviv, among many. We marched in the rain, we marched during a snowstorm, we marched in scorching sun and we had ‘Candle Light Vigils’ in front of every State House including the ‘White House.’
Due to the untiring effort of so may in the Diaspora, we were able to convince the US House of Representative to introduce a bill in support of our struggle for Democracy, The Rule of Law and Basic Human Rights in our homeland. This is a monumental achievement. Our European brothers and sisters were successful in getting the ‘European Parliament’ to pass a very strong resolution on our behalf.
All this victory came at a cost. Since the incarceration of the popularly elected leaders and other peace loving citizens the Diaspora is struggling to find a common voice. There have seen upheavals in the different organizations trying to define aims and objectives. It is a normal outcome of human associations. As varied as our background is our solutions will be varied too. We are in the process of forming democratic organization from the grass root level. Our culture is based on central authority. It is natural the two will clash.
The ‘Kinijit North America Support Organizations’ (KNAASO) are seventeen Chapters strong. They are based on the equality of chapters, Sovereignty of chapters and the rule of law. They are models of associations the future will be built on. There are people organized under EPRP, Hibret is represented in many States. OLF is a strong Organization with many branches. Civic organizations like “The Ethiopian America Civic Advocacy (http://www.eacamoveon.com/our_mission.php) and Coalition for HR 2003 (http://www.hr2003.org) are different avenues of participation for the Diaspora.
What ever association we belong to, we feel we are working to bring about change in our country. We still have not developed the tolerance necessary to work as one. But these are formative years. What matters is that we get involved and do what we believe is right and proper. Despite our constant bickering and endless recriminations we are showing progress and results. We should also remember that we are faced with a very cunning and rich adversary. The ‘gang in power’ has elevated the use of terror, disinformation, bribery and cooption unto an art form. In the short run they create havoc in our midst, but time is their enemy. As we look closer those who mislead, those who lie, those who have a personal agenda are exposed for what they are. Just like their master the ‘Woyane’ regime, the whole world will see them naked and shameless. Talk democracy but practice autocracy that is their motto.
Le us pledge to magnify our strength. Our shortcomings are many, but our achievements are something to be proud of. In an ideal world we will all march together to oppose tyranny and injustice. We will all speak in one voice. May be someday. Change of mind and character is an evolutionary process. Tolerance and respect for the opinion of others even when we do not agree is acquired not woven into our genetic makeup. As the Jews say during their Passover dinner “L’shanah haba’ah biyerushalayim — Next Year in Jerusalem.” It is an expression of hope fulfilling their dream of being a free people in their own land. I say to you ‘yememetaw amet be agerachin.’
We all have one goal, which is to see a free, democratic Ethiopia. We are on the right path. We shall win.
[AFP] – Kenenisa Bekele erased any doubts about his form ahead of next month’s World Championships in Japan with a record-breaking 3,000 metres win over Australia’s Craig Mottram at the rain-lashed British Grand Prix this morning (Australian time).
The Ethiopian, the Olympic and world 10,000 metres champion, burst clear with three laps to go as rain fell at the Don Valley Stadium and went nearly a lap in front.
Bekele’s time of 7 minutes, 26.69 seconds was a personal best and a new British allcomers’ record, beating the 7:29.69 run of Haile Gebrselassie, his compatriot, at London’s Crystal Palace eight years ago.
Mottram, who beat Bekele in September’s World Cup final, was way back in second, some nine seconds behind.
“It was a fantastic race,” Bekele said. “I’m happy to have ran so quickly especially in tough weather conditions.
“I have been training hard and this performance showed that I am at my best level.”
Australia’s Jana Rawlinson continued her successful comeback after giving birth by winning the 400m hurdles.
The former Jana Pittman, married to retired British hurdler Chris Rawlinson, won in a time of 54.60 as she geared up for Osaka.
Britain’s Natasha Danvers-Smith, runner-up to Rawlinson at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, was second in 55.31 with Sandra Glover of the United States third in 55.54.
It was 2003 world champion Rawlinson’s second win in three days after her success at Rome’s Golden League meeting on Friday.
The 400m race involving Olympic and world champion Jeremy Warriner and double-amputee Oscar Pistorius was marred by the weather.
Warriner stumbled out of the blocks and then stopped, as if expecting the starter to fire the recall gun.
But no recall came and Warriner let the field continue without him.
The wet conditions made life especially tough for Pistorius, who runs on carbon fibre blades attached to the legs below the knee.
He was last of those who finished and was subsequently disqualified for running outside his lane. American Angelo Taylor won in 45.25 seconds with Australia’s John Steffensen second.
Tyson Gay’s hopes of setting a 100m world record were frustrated by the weather, his winning time of 10.13 well outside Asafa Powell’s mark of 9.77.
MOGADISHU, July 15 (Reuters) – Suspected Islamist rebels fired mortar bombs at the opening ceremony of a Somali peace meeting on Sunday but missed their heavily-guarded target.
President Abdullahi Yusuf was addressing several hundred clan elders, ex-warlords and politicians at a former police compound in northern Mogadishu when the shells fell nearby.
“Anybody who wants to throw things at us, let him go ahead. We will not be cowed. The conference will go ahead,” Yusuf said moments before three explosions rumbled in the streets outside.
“Do not fear,” Yusuf said, as anxiety spread through the packed hall. “You will only die when your stated time comes.”
Islamist insurgents had vowed to attack the meeting. Local media said three civilians were hurt in the mortar blasts, but a senior police commander denied that.
“Three mortars were hurled from very far away,” said the officer, who declined to be named. “There were no casualties … We intend to tighten security even further.”
Moments after the blasts, the peace conference was adjourned until Thursday while the organisers waited for more delegates to reach the coastal capital.
Officials said most of the 1,350 invited participants from across the Horn of Africa nation had now arrived for the talks, which have been delayed twice due to security fears.
The conference is seen as the interim government’s best hope of securing peace and strengthening its legitimacy.
Yusuf’s administration has struggled to impose its authority on the impoverished country since ousting a hardline Islamic Courts movement from Mogadishu in late December.
Government troops and their Ethiopian [Woyanne] military allies ringed the venue, searching everyone entering the compound, while soldiers on tanks and trucks fitted with heavy guns looked on.
In the city’s sprawling Bakara Market, five government soldiers were wounded along with two civilians when suspected rebels threw two hand grenades at a patrol, witnesses said.
Violence fuelled by bitter clan rivalries has foiled 13 previous attempts to set up central rule in Somalia since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.
Envoys from several EU member states had planned to attend the opening ceremony, diplomats said, but were unable to when the United Nations cancelled their flight late on Friday.
When the talks get underway properly, they will focus on clan reconciliation, disarmament and sharing natural resources.
In his opening speech, Yusuf promised to set up regional administrations and hold a referendum on a Somali constitution, as well as organise a new national census. Many Somalis say his government should be talking to the insurgents instead.
The Ethiopian millennium is a time to bring the people, nation and country into one!
In Ethiopia the millennium should be a time to bring the nation, the people and the country together by lifting their spirit and creating good-feel, and bringing wisdom, celebration, joy, excellence and quality in the communication amongst the people to increase and consolidate their solidarity and lessen their divisions and quarrels. The millennium is for lifting up and not to bring down the Ethiopian spirit. It is a time to strengthen deeply the unity of the people; it is a time to heal the wounds and sores that have been festering in the country creating the static society and the brutal state. This millennium should be a time to make a canon and vow to lift and bring together citizen and state in order that they together create a more beautiful civilisation and world for all Ethiopians irrespective of colour, belief, language, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, age and sex the citizens share both as individuals or communities.
But on the eve of the millennium what we hear leaves us hurt and anguished. We hear the threat of death penalty hanging on those the people elected. Any person who respects the people who voted for these prisoners of conscience can only feel like the conversation of the Adventures of the Wonderland by Alice and the Cat. What else can the threat to kill these democrats mouthed with such wild exaggeration by the state persecutor conjure up except sheer madness emanating from an arrogance of power?
The wonderland of extreme injustice
An adventure in the wonderland of extreme injustice, where the death penalty is casually threatened to citizens who have not committed any crime, who stand for putting the rule of power under the rule of law, and who stand against the madness of audacity, arrogance and hubris in favour of humility, must be felt indeed as an experience that is not to be taken as sane and safe. It must be this type of inexplicable behaviour displayed by the state persecutor with such cruel vindictiveness and wicked malice against the prisoners of conscience that makes one to understand why Alice and the Cat declared both the place and themselves to be mad. What kind of good feel comes out of a state persecutor on the eve of the millennium where he declares he demands the death penalty for the innocent prisoners of conscience not on the grounds of proving any case against them but because they refused to defend themselves against crimes they do not recognise ever committing? Under what law and book of justice can such a stance by them elicit a death penalty unless the persecutor lives in a mad world and is also mad himself, if not also the government he so slavishly serves?
So it looks all along all talk of prisoners release was a gimmick!
Instead of an inspiring momentum to a millennium, the nation is treated to an emotional blackmail and cynical manipulation by the careless and cruel misuse and abuse of the prisoners of conscience whom the Ethiopian people voted for. There is no doubt that the ruling party in power lost the argument during the election. As to the votes, it should have been able to count it properly. We do not know the true result because it took nearly a year to count it by an election board that was favouring the ruling party.
The Government is acting in such a way that today those who voted for the prisoners are driven to curse their vote or deed. They can only feel sad and angry for electing them only to see them suffer in prison for so long. Lo and be hold the time when these frustrations, sadness and anger turn into the courage for resistance, that is when this regime would get its comeuppance. The people can rise and say enough is enough. The time is getting closer when the sheer arrogance of power would compel the people to say they would use any means necessary to restore the dignity of justice and the people, the electorate and the country. This millennium is a test case whether the country moves into broad era of reconciliation or confrontation. The odds are stacked against reconciliation, but the people must patiently exhaust all avenues for the larger good of the country and the future generations.
The regime may see it perhaps as a joke or to taste public attitudes to put on the possibility of the release of the prisoners and to put it off willy-nilly. One moment the nation was treated to a gigantic rumour mill that spilled all over the world that the prisoners would be released. Expectations were whipped high; in fact far too high nearly everyone talked that it is a matter of days before they would be released. We even heard that the prisoners’ families had begun to transport the prisoners’ meagre belongings from prison. How can one make sense of this up and down, on and off, emotional zigzags deliberately leaked and spread by the politicians involved in it?
Then came the tragic disappointment. Meles flatly denied he has been engaged in any mediation efforts despite so many reports such mediations have taken place with Government officials, though the actual persons involved were not revealed except for some of the outside mediators that included a Diaspora professor and a lawyer, and foreign powers backing such efforts either discreetly.
Then Bereket with the usual disdainful arrogance said everything with the prisoners of conscience is going through the courts. He claimed that there cannot be any other route to get the prisoners released except for what they can expect from the constituition, the courts and the law. Then came the final act in this saga. The state persecutor declared that the prisoners be punished with a death penalty, not because they have been found guilty but because they did not show remorse or respect to him, the judges and so on.
By such mad act of the not so clearly thinking men that play Byzantine political games on the future of this nation, like this hapless persecutor, this regime also broadcast to the world that it neither understands justice nor law, nor also respect the evidence that must be proved beyond reasonable doubt for people to be sent to the gallows. They showed the world that the country that has perhaps one of the oldest legal systems and justice systems in the world is still run by people who do not understand elementary norms of legality, legal discourse and justice, not to mention morality, wisdom and humanity.
Is it with threats to kill that we wish to enter the millennium?
The threat of death penalty against the prisoners of conscience is not easy to fathom for any sane person who has both elementary humanity, sense of justice, and moral and intellectual sense. This is time for Ethiopians where ever they are to spread a ‘good feel spirit’ across Ethiopia. The millennium will take place in less than two months! What would be interesting about the millennium celebration is not the expected costly razzmatazz or the party jamboree by the Government in a country that can hardly afford such a spectacle. No, the party jamboree is the least interesting aspect of the millennium episode. What would make the millennium monumental is indeed when state and society, leader and citizen and everyone come to gather and rally behind leading up to the millennium, the millennium day itself, and well beyond it, all as united and purposeful Ethiopians learning and willing to sharing a vision irrespective of what politics, religion, ethnic origin and language difference we have or share at the moment. The most precious outcome would be to be able to come together with a lifted up spirit without any fear and with full national confidence to confront many of the country’s internal and external challenges, threats and problems and create the opportunities for sustainable peace, rule of law, human rights, democracy, justice and democratic governance, stability, prosperity and legitimacy in the rules of the game for orderly and lawful transition for Government for all the people from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. The spirit of the millennium should be to hope to undo what pulls as apart; and foster and grow and prepare to unite all as one nation, to emerge also as one people, one country, with one destiny and one vision to be free, independent, democratic, just, with a law-governed system of rule, developing a rule of the game for democratic transition and governance without any need to resort to violent methods, being always self-reliant, non dependent on donors, prosperous and renascent. It means that the millennium spirit is fulfilled when the Government and those who should be having the responsibility to serve, not as they do now to rule by injustice the country, the people and the nation, are able to take wise steps to give leadership to bring the nation together, heal society from its many sores and wounds. The call for extreme application of death penalty suffers not only from its lack of substance but its sheer lack of timing. It leads to disunity rather than help to heal the many fractures and wounds of society. It fosters the breaking up and the spread of anomie amongst society, people, and nation even deeper and elongates further the distance between state and citizen for years to come. Extreme penalty is extreme injustice. It is power gone mad and crazy. It must be condemned by all people of good will who wish well Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people to have a peaceful, gentle, kind and harmonious Millennium.
The death penalty threat cannot be seen lightly
After so much talk the prisoners would be released comes the death penalty threat. Even now commentator after commentator from the Western media says that what the regime intends is to’ make a point’ with the death penalty against the prisoners of conscience, and after that provide them amnesty. Action speaks louder, not words, not secret negotiations, not rumours. No one can be sure what the action of characters in the state of the Cat and Alice who live in an imaginary mad world of power and privilege, opulence and wealth in a sea of popular misery would be. It could be anything. Lest we are not surprised if the worst outcome ensues, we must prepare for the worst. We must try to begin the biggest, deepest and most resolute mobilisation this ancient nation ever had in its history to get the prisoners released. Not just the prisoners of conscience, but also all political prisoners before the millennium must be immediately released. We must enter into citizens covenanting to act like a sea of people who will not stop until justice prevails and sanity overcomes this officially orchestrated madness. If the regime carries out its threats and disabuses the Ethiopian nation by promising blood , chains, imprisonment and death rather than hope, togetherness, unity, wisdom, light and possibility, we must have the courage to say no, defy and prepare for the most resolute united resistance this nation ever have seen and will ever see.
State persecutor is not acting alone
This death threat is not simply the work of the state persecutor. He did not pull the trick out of his hat. No one can believe that in a country where the judicial system has always been interfered by those who are in the executive that the state persecutor did bring these grave indictments against the prisoners of conscience without a green light from the central Government. Those in Government cannot wash their hands from such wicked mischief. What good does this Government get by unleashing such threats whilst at the same time getting its friends in the donor community to spread the rumour of imminent release of the prisoners of conscience? Why unleash such huge expectation that they democrats in jail would be released in the population and clamp back and send equally the de-inspiring talk that the executive has no role, and that all is up to the courts. Why make the expectation to rise high and equally bring down people to disappointment and depression. Why all that talk of mediators when the regime denies that it has not engaged in such mediations, that it knew all along this is a ‘criminal affair’ only fit for its courts?
Concluding Remark: the options are only to release the prisoners now or face deeper and sustained resistance!
This is time for all sections of Ethiopians to spread good feel amongst themselves first and then across Africa and the world. We are heading towards the millennium and beyond. This is such a precious and special time we must vow to leave behind us any residual feelings and deeds of injustice. This is indeed a time when enemies can turn into friends. The millennium is a special moment. It must be captured with all its possibilities and hope. The millennium is the time to enter the era of justice, democracy, human rights, rule of law and mount a democratic governance revolution and civilisation. This is no time to engage in wicked mischief and play cat and mouse with the feelings and social psychology of the Ethiopian people by an unwarranted and cruel misuse and abuse of the prisoners of conscience!!!
It is simply wicked to threaten prisoners of conscience who have committed no crime for standing firm in their position of having either never intended or done nothing to warrant even putting them one second in prison or another second in court with a death penalty. The threat to execute them is made not because they have committed crime or the state persecutor has proved anything against them in law, rather it is related to his anger that they have towered morally and intellectually over his team’s shabby failure to prove anything to incriminate these worthy citizens of Ethiopia.
This is no time for the rule of power to undermine the rule of law. It is not the time for arrogance and public deceit to be unleashed with the hubris of officials abusing the jailed and misusing them to manipulate the public sentiment at the wrong time for the wrong reasons of spreading injustice, cruelty public abuse and enmity.
It is either following Bill Clinton’s notion of lifting up the people to bring them together so that they can also relate and communicate better with the rest of humanity or follow the route of madness of the Adventures of Alice’s and the Cat’s Wonderland. The regime must choose either creating good-feel everywhere in Ethiopia from the family to the country, lifting up spirit and helping responsibly to bring the people together RIGHT NOW or follow the mad threats of death penalties on the eve of the millennium. It is up to the regime to choose. NES hopes commonsense would prevail over cruelty and injustice.
If the Meles regime chooses to join the camp of lifting the spirit of the people, then it must immediately and unconditionally release the prisoners of conscience and all the political prisoners it put into jail since it came to power by violent armed struggle on May 28, 1991.
If it continues to choose the Adventures of Alice in the Wonderland, NES asks for a global Ethiopian resistance observatory to be formed where we all together enter the Millennium with courage, spirit of resistance and defiance until justice and the dignity of our people are fully restored. No time calls for the united opposition to ignore all the petty differences and come together and show robust united strength now. Time to prepare to come together for all the people and their organic intellectuals from the red Sea to the Indian Ocean! Time to mobilise, organise and confront those who show no concern for justice or engage in depleting the spirit of national moments that must be seized to spread good-feel, unity, togetherness and lifting-up all the people the country and the nation.
Mammo Muchie, Chair, on Behalf of o Network of Ethiopian Scholars (NES). He can be reached at [email protected]
Ostrava, Czech Republic – With nine finals, the Girls Heptathlon and qualification rounds on the track and in the field, the third afternoon session at the IAAF World Youth Championships here in Ostrava proved a very busy one.
17-year-old Legese Lamiso became the first ever Ethiopian runner to win a global Steeplechase title when he clocked a new World Youth leading time of 5:30.81 to win a superb gold medal. Lamiso finishing speed was no match for Silas Kosgei Kitum of Kenya who had to settle for silver in personal best 5:32.88.
From the gun, one could tell the race would be an African affair but it was expected that Kenya’s superiority at the event would remain unchallenged until a very determined Lamiso made his move to the front.
Morocco’s Abdellah Dacha out sprinted Jonathan Muia Ndiku, the second Kenyan in the race to claim bronze in yet another personal best 5:34.49. In total 8 out of 12 finalists improved on their personal records.
World Youth leader Geoffrey Kibet of Kenya executed the perfect race to win his country’s second gold medal of these Championships as he clocked 1:49.99 in the Boys 800m final.
The final stages of the race proved to be very exciting as all eight finalists entered the home straight virtually on the same line. Ethiopia’s Henok Tesfaye tripped the inside curb and was soon out of contention as Kibet sped away from Ali Al-Deraan of Saudi Arabia and Amine El Manaoui of Morocco the former claiming the silver medal by a mere two hundredths of a second.
Kenya made it a double celebration as Sammary Cherotich ran a personal best time of 4:15.47 to win the Girls’ 1500m ahead of American Jordan Hasay and team-mate Sheila Chepkirui Kiprotich.
Cherotich and Hasay took turns in the lead to ensure the pace was tough and soon it was them, Kiprotich and Ethiopia’s Bertukan Feyisa left in the leading pack. The Ethiopian faded when the trio kicked with 400 metres to go leaving Hasay with the hard task to counter the Kenyan charge.
In the final 200 metres, the blonde American managed to break away from Kiprotich and secured the silver medal in 4:17.24 but could not challenge Cherotich’s supremacy on the day.
16-year-old Natalya Mamlina of Russia jumped a new World Youth leading performance 1.89m to win the Girls High Jump final although she had already secured the gold medal with her first time clearance at 1.84m.
Jamaica’s Misha-Gaye Dacosta whose PB stood at 1.80m coming into tonight’s final was the only other athlete to sail over that height today albeit with her second attempt and took an unexpected silver medal.
Aleksandrina Klimentinova (BUL) and Elena Vallortigara (ITA) tied for bronze at 1.81m as pre-event World Youth leader Kimberly Jess of Germany had a nightmare competition finishing in eighth with 1.78m.
Two gold medals for Ukraine
The Boys Hammer Throw final proved to be one of the highest quality competitions of the day with 29 out of 39 legal throws exceeding the 70 metres mark.
World Youth leader Andriy Martynyuk of Ukraine opened with a massive 76.09 metres which remained unmatched this afternoon. Martynyuk had another three legal throws and all landed beyond 73.88m!
The surprise of the day came from Hungary’s Daniel Szabo who improved his personal best by over two metres his fourth round effort landing at a silver medal winning distance of 75.30m. The bronze medal went to Germany courtesy of Richard Olbrich with 75.18m as Conor McCullough of the US had to settle for a very disappointing fourth after he had been the best qualifier yesterday.
Ukrainians had more to celebrate as minutes later Yuliya Baraley ran a very solid 53.57 to win the Girls 400m with half a second margin over fast finishing Latoya McDermott of Jamaica. In third Alexandra Stukova finished strong to claim bronze in 54.46 ahead of Olha Zemlyak (UKR).
Clarke dominates Boys’ 400m
The Boys one-lap race proved a more interesting final with World leader Christopher Clarke of Great Britain confirming his status and winning his country’s second gold of the competition with a 46.74 clocking.
Coming into the home straight, Russia’s Vladimir Krasnov was trailing Clarke and it looked as though these two would battle it out for the win but as Clarke sped away Krasnov was gradually being caught by Kirani James of Grenada and Jordan McGrath of Great Britain.
The best finisher, James struck his country’s first medal as he clocked a PB 46.96 for silver with Krasnov holding on to bronze 6 hundredths of a second faster than McGrath.
A gold for the USA too
17-year-old Dalilah Muhammad of the United States clocked 57.25 to win the Girls 400m Hurdles her surge in the final run-in making the difference over Romania’s Andreea Ionescu by just eight hundredths of a second.
Ionescu ran a very aggressive first part and entered the home straight well clear of Muhammad who was running on her outside but the tall Romanian messed up her steps as she approached the final hurdle and lost her lead. Despite a desperate attempt to recover her momentum, Ionescu had to settle for silver in 57.33, a new personal best.
One-Two for Japan in Boys Long Jump
It was somehow expected that the Boys Long Jump title would go to Japan although it came as a surprise that it went to Yasumichi Konishi. The 17-year-old prevailed over his more favoured compatriot Daisuke Yoshiyama whose 7.32m best effort was more than 30 centimetres off his World Youth Leading performance.
Konishi jumped a wind assisted 7.52m with his first attempt and remained unchallenged throughout. Christian Taylor of the US jumped a PB 7.29m for bronze in the poorest Long Jump final in the history of the competition.
Heptathlon continues
Katerina Cachova of the Czech Republic has an overnight lead of 13 points over Germany’s Carolin Schäfer after four events in the Girls Heptathlon. Schäfer’s 12.20m effort in the Shot Put reduced the gap with early leader Cachova who could only put 10.81m.
The Shot Put proved to be an even worse event for Cachova’s team-mate Nikola Ogrodnikova who had three fouls and sunk way down to 22nd in the overall ranking ending the country’s legitimate hope of a double in the Girls combined events.
Qualification rounds
A huge Championship record and World Youth leading performance of 70.67m by Mykyta Nesterenko was the highlight in the Boys Discus Throw qualification rounds. The Ukrainian leads five other automatic qualifiers into tomorrow’s final. He is the outright favourite for gold as Marin Premeru of Croatia, the Shot Put silver medallist, the next best today lies a massive 12 metres adrift.
The South African pair of PC Beneke and Cornel Fredericks, the first and second fastest in the world this year respectively, easily advanced to tomorrow’s semi-final winning the first and last heat in the Boys’ 400m Hurdles with 52.05 and 52.48 respectively.
The fastest qualifier was Reginal Wyatt of the USA who ran impressively to lower his personal best to 51.69 while his compatriot William Wynne, a silver medallist in the 110m Hurdles yesterday, had the scare of the day as he could only finish third in his heat and had to wait and see if he could advance as one of the fastest losers.
His 53.41 eventually proved to be enough for the Atlanta based youngster but only just as the last qualifier was Saudi Arabia’s Adel Al-Nasser with 53.48.
Today’s programme also included the heats of the Girls 800m led by Romania’s Elena Lavric and the Boys 1500m with Spain’s David Bustos the fastest qualifier.
The major casualty in the Boys Pole Vault qualification was Japan’s Yu Miura who had a personal best of 5.01m coming to Ostrava but couldn’t go higher than 4.60m missing the cut for Sunday’s final on count-back.
