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Kenya has already opened its gold account at the ongoing African Senior Athletics Championships in Accra, Ghana, even as criticism mounts on the organisation of the continental show.
The country’s athletes delivered three medals on day two of the championships through Kelvin Chesang’s gold in the men’s 10,000m and a bronze delivered by Silas Senchura in the same event.
Decathlon sensation Edwin Too sustained his consistency at the African stage, delivering a mouthwatering silver.
Chesang blasted to victory in 28:30.44, defeating Eyo Gared of Ethiopia (28:30.57), who settled for silver as Senchura sealed the podium in 28:32.66. He moved to the lead in the last two laps of the tactical 10,000m contest in Accra.
“There was strong opposition from Ethiopian athletes, but we pushed harder, and we delivered gold for Kenya. I had promised to deliver gold, and we kept the promise,” said Chesang.
He added, “I decided to stick with the leader until the last stages of the race, and when I made my kick, he didn’t respond as I expected, and that is how I sprinted for my win. I’m elated to be an African champion.”
Bronze medallist Senchura said he enjoyed the race, although his tactic of racing from the back and reserving gas for the final kick failed to yield the expected results.
He was third at this year’s Sirikwa Classic World Cross Country Tour and winner of the 2025 Kipkeino Classic 10,000m event.
Too, the star, handed Kenya its first African decathlon medal in 42 years after bagging bronze at the 2024 Africa Athletics Championships in Douala, Cameroon.
The 31-year-old star said he was happy to have upgraded his previous bronze to a silver medal in the 2026 edition. “We trained adequately with my coach at the camp in Nairobi for two weeks. We planned for it, and we were aiming higher, and we won silver, and I’m happy with the performance,” Too said.
He won decathlon events such as discus (37.82m) and long jump (7.39m), and finished second in 400m (47.99) besides settling for third spot in 100m (10.98) and javelin (49.08) for his total of 7132 points to get bronze. He scored 7120 points.
It was during the 2024 All-African Games, also staged in Accra, that Too established himself as Kenya’s decathlon king with a silver medal and a national record.
However, the ongoing show in Accra continues to come under sharp criticism, with athletics enthusiasts and athletes pointing out technical hitches.
From pole vault pole breakages to poor results management and haphazard starts, Accra’s preparedness to host the continental showpiece was questioned.
“The competition was healthy, but we had challenges here and there. We ran out of poles for the pole vault, and we used poles from Benin. One decathlon athlete offered to give us the poles, but unfortunately, we broke three of them. We are sorry about what happened. It was so challenging during the pole vault,” Too said after his achievement.
He said he has set his sights on upgrading from a silver to a gold medal in the upcoming events.