Kenya’s aspirations for its first Olympic medals in race walking and judo were dashed on Thursday morning as Samuel Gathimba and Zeddy Cherotich faced setbacks at the Paris Olympic Games.
At the base of the Eiffel Tower, Ecuador’s Brian Pintado achieved his country’s first Olympic gold medal in athletics with a time of 1:18:55, while Brazil’s Caio Bonfim secured silver in 1:19:09. World champion Alvaro Martin rounded out the podium with a time of 1:19:11.
Gathimba, competing in his second Summer Games, finished in a disappointing 22nd place with a season-best time of 1:21:26, eliminating Kenya’s chances for a medal in the men’s 20km race walk. Defending champion Massimo Stano from Italy fell just one second short of a medal, finishing fourth.
At the Champ-de-Mars Arena, it took Portugal’s Patricia Sampaio only 20 seconds to defeat Kenya’s Zeddy Cherotich 10-0 in the 78kg category. Sampaio scored a Waza-ari with a Sode-tsurikomi-goshi after nine seconds and sealed the match with an ippon just 20 seconds in.
More updates to follow.