Kenya’s Kumari Taki claimed the men’s 1500m gold medal at the ongoing IAAF World U20 Championships at the Zawisza Stadium, in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Thursday.
The 17-year-old, who is the reigning World Youth and Commonwealth Youth 1500m champion, dove across the finish line to hold off fast finishing Taresa Tolosa of Ethiopia to secure the title, 3:48.63 to 3:48.77.
Taki’s teammate Anthony Kiptoo completed the African podium, taking the bronze medal in 3:49.00. Baptiste Mischler of France was fourth while Ajay Kumar Saroj of India was fifth, both timed at 3:49.52
“I am happy to win my third major junior title having battled some nerve problem I experienced in both legs in Samoa,” said Taki, whose 3:36.38 from last year’s final in Cali remains his personal best.
“I knew the Ethiopian has a strong kick and I had to do anything including diving to the finishing line to win. I wanted this for a long time.”