Sports Zone

Finland, Botswana represent Creswell, Cottage Grove at track championships

Finland and Botswana represented their countries well at the World Athletic Championships after weeklong stays to train and prepare in Creswell and Cottage Grove, respectively. Here are the highlights:

Letsile Tebogo of Botswana set the World U20 record in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 9.94 seconds in the quarterfinals. Tebogo then ran 10.17 seconds in the semifinals to take 16th place, ultimately failing to qualify for the finals.

Krista Tervo of Finland finished in third in the women’s hammer throw semifinals, while her countrymate Silja Kosonen finished in seventh. Both made the hammer throw finals, with Tervo finishing in 10th and Kosonen finishing in seventh.

Wilma Murto of Finland finished tied for 1st place in the semifinals of the women’s pole vault. Murto would end up equaling her season-best in the finals but missed out on the podium and finished in 6th.

Kristiina Makela of Finland set a personal best of 14.48 meters in the women’s triple jump semifinals and qualified for the finals in fourth. She was unable to match that in the finals, however, and finished in ninth.

After taking bronze at the Olympics last year, the Botswana men’s 4×400 team initially failed to qualify for the finals after they dropped the baton. It was later ruled that they were interfered with, and thus they were advanced to the final by the referee. The team of Isaac Makwala, Zibane Ngozi, Keitumetse Maitseo and Leungo Scotch ran a personal best of 3:00.14 in that final, but ended up in sixth.

Bayapo Ndori and Isaac Makwala of Botswana both qualified for the semifinals of the men’s 400 meters. Ndori set a personal best of 44.87 and finished in 1st overall going into the semifinals. He then qualified for the finals with the seventh-fastest time before finishing in sixth place in the finals. Makwala failed to qualify for the finals after finishing 21st in the semifinals.

Alisa Vainio of Finland finished 16th out of over 40 women in the marathon with a time of 2:30:29.

Viivi Lehikoinen of Finland qualified for the semifinals in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. She ultimately failed to qualify for the finals, but did break the Finnish National Record with her time of 54.60 in the semifinals.

Oliver Helander and Lassi Etelätalo of Finland both qualified for the finals of the men’s javelin. Helander finished in sixth in the semifinals and 8th in the finals. Etelätalo captured the last spot in the finals by getting 12th before throwing a season best to get sixth in the finals.

Aleksi Ojala and Elisa Neuvonen of Finland both set national records in the 35-kilometer racewalks. Ojala walked a time of 2:28:22 and claimed 13th in the men’s, while Neuvonen walked 2:57:42 to place 20th in the women’s.

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