Yego, Kiyeng bag two more gold medals for Kenya

Javelin star Julius Yego and 3,000 meters steeplechase specialist Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi have won gold medals for Kenya bringing the tally to six in the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China.

Yego won Kenya’s 5th gold after recording the longest javelin throw in 14 years with a mark of 92.72 meters while Jepkemoi bagged the sixth gold medal after clicking the 9:19.11 minutes timeline.

Yego’s mark set his best personal record of 91.39, the longest leading mark of the year, giving Yego the first world championship gold medal.

Yego was in eighth position before his third attempt in the final, when he landed chest-down behind the line after unleashing the world-leading throw.

The world record of 98.48 meters was set in 1996 by Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic, who also set the championship record at 92.80 in 2001.

It was the first time in history five throwers recorded marks beyond 87 meters in a championship final.

Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed of Egypt briefly held the lead at 88.99 and finished with the silver medal. Tero Pitkamaki of Finland, the 2007 world champion, took bronze at 87.64, followed by Thomas Roehler of Germany (87.18) and Antti Ruuskaen of Finland (87.12).

Yego was the first Kenyan to reach an Olympic final in a field event at the 2012 London Games, the same year he won an IAAF scholarship to train in Finland.