Caroline Nyaga: New 10,000 Metres African Champion Reveals She Didn’t Have Running Shoes Days Before Triumph

• New African champion Caroline Nyaga has explained how Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon came to her rescue by sending her shoes that she used to win gold in Mauritius
• Kipyegon sent the shoes together with a note, asking Nyaga to try her best to win and bring a medal back home
• Nyaga is now setting her eyes on the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

Just a few days before the Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Mauritius, Caroline Nyaga was just another person. Relatively unknown in the Athletics circles.

In fact, much of the focus was on Africa's fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala who was keen on bagging three medals in Africa's top athletics meet. He ended up winning two, with a memorable race in the 100 metres to dethrone Akani Simbine from South Africa.

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Nyaga was not even supposed to make it to Mauritius after she failed to advance from the National Police trials. But one competitor withdrew, making way for her to go ahead and make write her own story in Mauritius.

She first ran the 5,000 metres, where she finished third, thus bagging bronze. Her moment of reckoning came in the 10,000 metres, where she ran a time of 32:12.61 to floor the rest of her competitors and win gold.

Nyaga didn't even have proper running shoes and she got help from the reigning Olympic 1,500-metre champion Faith Kipyegon who sent her new shoes, plus a note of encouragement. Speaking to renowned journalist Jeff Koinange on Citizen TV, Nyaga said that the note from Kipyegon injected a new sense of motivation.

In the note, Kipyegon told me to try my level best and win a medal in the championships. There is nothing I can use to pay her but just to ask God to bless her in her endeavours.

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Prior to the event, Kipyegon didn't even know who Nyaga was but she was informed of Nyaga's plight by her manager and she chose to send her the running shoes from the Netherlands.

Kenya finished top of the Mauritius meet, after bagging 10 gold medals.

Omanyala dethrones Akani Simbine in Mauritius

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala finally bagged his dream of becoming an African champion.

Omanyala beat the outgoing champion Akani Simbine from South Africa in the ongoing Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Mauritius.

It was a close call with Omanyala edging Simbine in what is called a photo-finish. The home hero crossed the line with 9.927 seconds to beat SImbine’s 9.930 in one of the closest races in history.