ATHLETICS Gallant Kenya collect five gold medals to finish sixth at Commonwealth Youth Games

Team Kenya won a total of nine medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games to leave the event as one of the most improved countries

Kenya ended their campaign at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago by winning three gold medals to take their tally to nine at the event.

The gold rush came from the men's 800m with Kelvin Kimutai clinching gold in 1:50:14 while they also claimed top honours in the men's 3,000m final where Josephat Sang and Andrew Kiptoo renewed their rivalry in a Kenyan-dominated and hotly contested race.

Sang won the race with Kiptoo settling for silver while in the women's 3,000m, the 1,500m record holder Nancy Cherop stamped her authority easily obliterating the field to win yet another gold medal at the games, clocking 9.07.15 and in the process missing yet another games record by seconds.

In Tobago, the beach volleyball duo of Sharon Jepkogei and Abigail Chebet finished fourth after going down to New Zealand in a closely contested bronze medal match.

Kenya had won two gold medals on Wednesday when they managed a top two finish in both the men’s and women’s 1,500m race.

Cherop, followed by teammate Janet Chepkoech on the last lap of the women's 1,500m, stepped on the gas leaving the rest behind to finish first and second respectively, earning Kenya the first pair of medals at the games.

The men's 1,500m race followed shortly after with the duo of Josephat Sang, who broke the Commonwealth Youth Games record, and Andrew Kiptoo doing the same as the women's team before, crossing the line first and second to give Kenya yet another gold and silver.

Kenya ended the games in sixth position with a total of nine medals (five gold, and four silver), five more than they managed in the last edition in Nassau, Bahamas where they won three gold and a silver.