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Konga eyes Copenhagen Half Marathon after clinching bronze in Douala

Konga now shifts focus to the Copenhagen Half Marathon, where he hopes to finish on the podium.

In Summary

•Edwin Too also brought home a bronze medal in the decathlon with 7,132 points, trailing behind Algerians Dhiae Bouchicha (7,215 points) and Larbi Bourada (7,447 points). 

•Rebecca Mwangi narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the women's 5,000m final on Friday, placing fourth with a time of 15:46.05.

Roncer Konga leads the 10,000m pack at the Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Cameroon
Roncer Konga leads the 10,000m pack at the Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Cameroon
Image: HANDOUT

Roncer Konga has set his sights on the Copenhagen Half Marathon on September 15 after winning a bronze medal in the men's 10,000m at the African Senior Championships in Douala, Cameroon, on Saturday.

Konga clocked 28:58.94 to secure third place, behind the Ethiopian duo of Nibrat Melak (28:52.27) and Gemechu Dida (28:52.79).

Konga now shifts focus to the Copenhagen Half Marathon, where he hopes to finish on the podium. 

"My focus now shifts to competing in the marathon. I will take part in the Copenhagen Marathon and I hope to do well," Konga said.

Konga's trophy cabinet includes victories at the Buenos Aires Half Marathon (59:08), last year's Paris Half Marathon  (59:38) and the Prague (59:43) Half Marathon.

He has a silver medal from the 2018 Bucharest Half Marathon, where he clocked 1:01:19 behind Patrick Kipkorir (1:01:05).

Konga holds bronze medals from; the Barcelona Half Marathon (59:28), the 2022 Lille Half Marathon (59:38), the 2021 Istanbul Half Marathon (59:46) and last year's Adizero Road to Records Half Marathon (1:00:08).

Reflecting on his performance in Douala, Konga expressed satisfaction, particularly since it was his debut appearance for Team Kenya. 

"I am happy I was able to clinch bronze in my maiden appearance for Team Kenya," he stated.

He also acknowledged the tough competition from the Ethiopians.

"The race was highly competitive but I was able to push myself to claim a podium finish," Konga stated.

Edwin Too also brought home a bronze medal in the decathlon with 7,132 points, trailing behind Algerians Dhiae Bouchicha (7,215 points) and Larbi Bourada (7,447 points). 

Despite not reaching his goal of a gold medal, Too was pleased with his performance.

"I wanted to upgrade my silver from the African games to gold but it was not possible. I am however thankful for the results," Too remarked.

At the African Games last March in Accra, Ghana, Too won silver with 7140 points behind South Africa's Fredriech Pretorius who won the title with 7550 points.

Too highlighted the long jump, discus, and 400m as his strongest events in Douala. "The events which gave me more points were long jump,  discus and 400m, where I lowered my PB," Too stated.

In the long jump, Too cleared a distance of 7.39m for first place earning him 908 points. Nigeria's Jeffery Emeka cleared 7.15m (850 points) for second place with Pretorius clearing 6.95m for third place (802 points).

In the 400m, Too finished second with a time of 47.99 securing 910 points behind Bouchicha who clocked 47.14 for 951 points.

Too won a discus throw on Friday throwing a distance of 37.82m for 620 points. Bourada placed second (37.67m-617 points) with Pretorius finishing third (36.19m - 588 points).

Rebecca Mwangi narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the women's 5,000m final on Friday, placing fourth with a time of 15:46.05.

Sammia Hassan of Djibouti (15:42.63) and the Ethiopian duo of Wubrist Chekol (15:30.25) and Fentaye Belayneh (15:30.10) secured the podium.