Rono braves Oregon storm to bag Youth Olympic gold

(L) Kenya’s Wesley Kiplagat competes in the men’s 2,000m steeplechase, where he won silver at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Monday. [NOC-K Media]

From the crushing silence of a 19th-place finish at the World Athletics Under-20 Championship in Oregon, USA to the deafening roar of Youth Olympic glory in Dakar, Faith Rono turned past heartbreak into fuel that propelled her to the top of the world.

Having endured the bitter taste of defeat in Oregon, Rono refused to relent, staging a tactical masterclass against Ethiopia’s Tsigab Yordanos to grab the women’s 3000m gold. While she may have been written off by critics following her previous performance, Rono arrived in Dakar determined to redeem herself and prove that she indeed learned invaluable lessons and that failure is just part of learning and growth.

Her determination was evident in how she fought from the onset, dictating the pace and ensuring that she was in control of the race even when Yordanos launched a threatening strike around the final bend. Rather than panic, as the Ethiopian surged past her, Rono remained calm, then exploded in a gold-winning attack that left Yordanos struggling to keep up with the pace as she crossed the finish line in 9:15.47 to add a fourth gold to Kenya’s basket. Yordanos took silver in a time of 9:15.71 while Uganda’s Keren Chelimo clocked 9:32.41 to complete the podium.

Rono revealed that letting Yordanos go ahead of her was part of her winning strategy.

“I let her go ahead to assess her strength before making my move. When I went to Oregon, the weather conditions were a bit harsh for me. That motivated me even more to come to Dakar and deliver something special,” Rono said.

Moments later, Wesley Kiplagat bagged silver for Kenya after finishing second in the men’s 2000m steeplechase.

Having recently switched to the demanding obstacle race from 3000m, Kiplagat who was competing for the first time in the steeplechase, made a good account of himself as he clocked 5:36.28 to finish behind Ethiopia’s Abdo Junedin, who took gold in a time of 5:29.30. Uganda’s Michael Kibet won bronze in 5:39.50.

Kiplagat revealed that due to pressure from Junedin and Kibet and a difficulty clearing a water barrier, his race-finishing strategy did not go as planned.

Kenya’s Faith Rono celebrates after winning gold in the women’s 3,000m at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Monday. [NOC-K Media]

“Abdo and Kibet were not giving me any breathing space. I was hoping to kick in the last lap but I had some difficulties crossing the water barrier after the bell. It was my first time competing in steeplechase but next time I will put in more effort to get gold,” Kiplagat said.

In beach wrestling, Kenya’s representatives Calvin Omweri and Jemimah Wanjala concluded their campaigns without winning medals. Competing at Saly Beach West, Omweri was eliminated in the preliminaries after finishing with one win and two defeats in Group B of the men’s 70kg challenge. He lost 3-0 to Ukraine’s Mykyta Kuzmenko and 5-0 to Georgia’s Luka Makharadze before recovering to register his lone win by defeating Mark Zemen of Hungary 3-0.

In the women’s 65kg, Wanjala failed to register any win in Group A as she lost to Graciela Eningo of Spain and eventual winner Yolayni Rosado Valerio of the Dominican Republic by an identical score of 4-2 and 4-0 to India’s Antra Antra.

Upcoming boxer Ella Damesi bowed out of the medal race after losing to Venezuela’s Grenyelis Garcia in the quarter-finals of the women’s 51kg contest. Having received a first-round bye, 16-year-old Damesi put up a spirited fight against the Venezuelan but was overpowered to exit the championship.

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