by Ben Ayuko
contact info: benayuko@gmail.com
{images by Reuters}
3rd of August 2024 was a day of Highs and Lows at the Paris Olympics.
First off, Ferdinand Omanyala coasted into the Men’s 100m Semi-Finals at the Paris Olympics by winning his heat in a time of 10.08 seconds.
After a relatively slow start, Omanyala soon picked up his speed and, in no time, found himself at the front of the pack. With the result in his hands, he cooled off to save his energy as he comfortably booked his place in the semi-final.
Vivian Kiprotich took full advantage of her Repechage Round to secure her place in the 800m semi-finals at the Paris Olympics.
Having missed out during the heats, she found herself with a second chance to make her mark having been grouped with the other athletes who didn’t make it the first-time round for a second tun. She did not waste her chance this time, emerging with the second fastest time- 1:59:31 minutes- that guaranteed her sport in the next round.
Elsewhere, Marie Brunlehner was unfortunate to find herself out of contention for a medal in the Women’s 50m Freestyle Swimming event at the Paris Olympics.
Marie enjoyed a really good swim in her heat, taking 3rd position right at the depth. However, with a time of 25.82 seconds, she was not fast enough to book herself a place in the semi-finals. Of the fastest 18 athletes selected, she found herself just out of the running in 27th. A strong showing that will surely inspire her performances in the coming years.
The Malkia Strikers bowed out of the Paris Olympics after crashing out of the Women’s Volleyball event at the Paris Olympics.
This came after another 3-0 loss, this time to Team Japan.
Japan won the first set 25-17. Team Kenya looked to comeback in the second set. It was a close affair as Team Kenya enjoyed probably their best set of the tournament when the two teams went point for point for 20minutes. Alas, Japan prevailed at the end with a 25-22 win. The third set turned out to be a formality as Japan killed off the game 25-12.
Not a good showing from the Malkia Strikers as it’s back to the drawing once again.