Caxias Do Sul — The penultimate day of the 24th Summer Deaflympics saw athletics power house Kenya bag eight medals to take the total tally to 24 so far.
Kenya won 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze on a rained-on track to take the total count to 5 Gold, 7 Silver and 12 Bronze medals to already surpass the 16 medals of 2017 performance.
Sharon Jeptarus opened the medal haul after guiding Rebecca Matiko to a 2-3 Kenyan finish in a race that was won by Anastasiia Sydorenko of Ukraine who clocked 2 Minutes, 21.11 Seconds.
Jeptarus, who also scooped the 1500m silver, clocked 2 Minutes, 21.57 Seconds while Rebecca Matiko settled for bronze 2 Minutes, 22.24 Seconds.
Up next was the men’s 800m final that was dominated by Kenyans with Elikana Rono handing Kenya the fourth gold in a time of 1 Minute, 54.75 Seconds.
The women’s 5000m final followed, where Grancy Kandagor took bronze after a tough race, coming third in a time of 18 Minutes, 16.44 Seconds in a race that was won by Sara-Elise Ruokonen from Finland in 17 Minutes, 33.03 seconds.
The day ended on a spectacular note with unstoppable two-time world champion Symon Kibai completing a double after comfortably cruising to the men’s 5000m gold.
Kibai, who also won the men’s 10,000m, defending the title, led fellow Kenyan Ian Hinga to silver.
“I am more that delighted to win two gold medals, this is not a mere achievement, it was not an easy competition bearing in mind the weather that was raining and very cold,” Kibai said after the race.
He added, “I am urging the Government of Kenya to give us employment just like our hearing counterparts who are appreciated. I am interested in joining the forces, so I am urging the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta to consider us,” Kibai stated.