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African athletes made a strong start at the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24, showcasing their prowess on the opening day of the competition.

Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa beat her opponents to successfully defend her 5000m title. Eisa’s win was one of the highlights of the first day. Eisa’s winning time of 14:39.71 shattered the previous championship record set by Genzebe Dibaba in 2010, by more than 28 seconds.

With this victory, Eisa secured Ethiopia’s eighth women’s 5000m gold in the last nine championships.

“I’m very happy with this win and to achieve a championship record after the Olympics,” said Eisa, who finished seventh in the 5000m at the Paris Games.

Her compatriot Mekedes Alemeshete finished second at 14:57.44, while Uganda’s Charity Cherop earned bronze with a personal best of 15:25.02.

The men’s 5000m final was a different story, with the early moves proving ineffective and the final race coming down to a sprint finish. Seven runners were still tightly packed as they entered the final lap.

Kenya’s Andrew Kiptoo Alamisi surged ahead to claim victory with a time of 13:41.14, followed closely by Ethiopia’s Abdisa Fayisa (13:41.56) and Uganda’s Keneth Kiprop (13:41.73).