Top 10 African athletes
Genzebe Dibaba, Julius Yego, Almaz Ayana, Wayde Van Niekerk and Nicholas Bett

Last Friday we published the first part of our Top 10 African athletes for 2015. Let’s conclude the series by completing the countdown, so from 5 to 1, here are the top ranked African athletes this year.

5)   Nicholas Bett:

Nicholas who?? Not much was known of the Kenyan, even after winning the national title with a Personal Best of 48.29s; it was a case of going to Beijing to make up the numbers, or so we thought. Okay he is known, but aside his Bronze at the African Championships in 2014, what more could really be said of him?

However months after the worlds, we now know Bett, not with the aid of a search engine, but by his exploits in Beijing where he won the 400m Hurdles title: the world surely took notice!

This is an event that is undoubtedly USA’s forte, but having a Kenyan win it was as surprising as it was unthinkable, considering that the East Africans are mainly known for their dominance in long distance events.

Bett defied the odds coming from Lane 9, showing that a good athlete can also win from difficult lanes. He shook off the challenge of Russia’s Denis Kudryavtsev to win in a time of 47.79s, the fourth fastest time by an African behind Zambia’s Samuel Matete (47.10s), Senegal’s Amadou Dia Bã  (47.23s) and South Africa’s Louis van Zyl (47.73).

Bett is only the second African to win the 400m Hurdles world title after Matete achieved that feat in 1991.

Nicholas Bett, 400m Hurdles, World Championships
Nicholas Bett came from lane 9 to become the first African to win a 400m Hurdles world title. Photo Credit: PaV media/ Making of Champions

1
2
3
4
5
SHARE
Athletics coverage was a discovery, having to move away from regularly writing about Football. Although it was initially daunting, but now being an authority in it makes the past effort worthwhile. From travelling on the same international flight with Nigerian athletes, to knowing you could easily interview: World Record holder Tobi Amusan, then Ese Brume, I have cut my teeth in this beat earning the trust of Athletics sources. Formerly the Content Manager-Sports at Ringier media Nigeria, Chris is a Senior Sports writer, Photographer & Community manager at Making of Champions.

8 COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here