Brenda Chekwemoi secures silver for Uganda at ISF Games in Bahrain
Chekwemoi, who won her heat in the preliminaries on Friday, clocked a time of 2:11.69, just 0.03 seconds behind Greece’s Loulianna Roussou, who took gold at 2:11.66.
Brenda Chekwemoi poses with the silver medal she won in 800m ISF games race. PHOTOS: Aloysius Byamukama
NewVision Reporter
@NewVision
Uganda’s 800m runner Brenda Chekwemoi claimed the country’s first medal at the International Schools Sports Federation (ISF) games in Manama, Bahrain, with a silver after narrowly missing out on gold in a photo finish.
Chekwemoi, who won her heat in the preliminaries on Friday, clocked a time of 2:11.69, just 0.03 seconds behind Greece’s Loulianna Roussou, who took gold at 2:11.66.
China’s Tao Tang won bronze with a time of 2:12.56.
Despite the close finish, Chekwemoi and the Ugandan team celebrated the accomplishment. Reflecting on her performance, she shared, “I was not expecting to win a medal this time for the competition at this level is stiff, but I trained so hard and encouraged myself to win a medal for my country Uganda.”
Chekwemoi’s silver came with an impressive improvement of 8 seconds over her previous winning time at the 2021 ISF U15 event in Belgrade, Serbia, where she clocked 2:19.65.
Chekwemoi is also set to lead Uganda in the medley relay on Monday, an event in which Uganda secured silver at the 2021 games in Belgrade.
Meanwhile, in basketball 3x3, Uganda’s Seroma Christian High School experienced mixed results. The boys' team defeated Nepal 14-8 but lost 16-12 to North Macedonia. The girls’ team faced tougher competition, falling to Romania (21-6), Chinese Taipei (13-3), and Brazil (20-3), with captain Maria Nanyonga scoring all the points.
Uganda’s table tennis team also showed resilience, rebounding from two initial losses to defeat India 7-0 and stay in the race to advance past the group stages. The competition continues today with singles events in badminton and table tennis, as well as matches in swimming, tennis, basketball 3x3, and more athletics events.
ISF selected results
800m final
Loulianna Roussou (GK) 2:11.66
Brenda Chekwemoi (UG) 2:11.69
Tao Tang (P.R.China) 2:12.56
Basketball 3x3-Boys
Seroma (UG) 14 Nepal 8
Seroma (UG) 12 N. Macedonia 16
Girls
Seroma (UG) 3 Brazil 20
Seroma (UG) 6 Romania 21
Seroma (UG) 3 Chinese Taipei 13
Table tennis boys
Uganda 1 (7) India 0