ACCRA, March 20, 2024 - At the 13th African Games held in Ghana, athletics has emerged as the saviour of Ethiopia. By the end of the second day of the athletics, the Ethiopian national anthem was sung two more times. The flag of Ethiopia flew high again in the sky of Accra. The victory of the Ethiopians, which was limited to one silver medal before the start of the athletics, has now reached eight in two days.

Tsige Duguma won Ethiopia's third gold in the women's 800-meter final. Tsige led the whole pack from the start of the race until she crossed the finish line. It took her 1:57.74 to finish the race. Her compatriots, Adanu Nenko and Aster Areri, failed to enter the medal stage. Ugandan athlete Halima Nakaayi finished second in 1:58.59, while Kenyan representative Vivian Chebet was third in 2:00.27.

"The race was good. The heat wasn't as hard as we expected. To be honest, I didn't expect all this. I've only been training for a week since I came from Glasgow. This is the call of the country, so I've accepted the call. I've made it. I thank God," Tsige said with a big smile on her face after the race.

Tsige Duguma is a recent phenomenon in the world of athletics. However, her recent achievements have made her introduction much easier. The 23-year-old had set a personal best time of 1:58.35 at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow a few weeks ago, but the Ghanaian stage made her improve that time even further. Tsige said after the race that she was surprised by her time.

"Honestly, when I ran the semi-final race, I was in control of the heat. I had a better time today. My only thought was to improve my semi-final time. But when I saw the time at the finish line, it was 1:57.74, and I was very happy. I didn't think I would run like this."

The Ethiopian victory continued later at night. In the men's 10,000m final, Nibret Melek won Ethiopia's fourth gold, while another Ethiopian, Gamechu Dida, took home the silver medal. The 24-year-old's delivery time was 29:45.37. Gemechu Dida finished the race with a time of 29:45.68. Ethiopia's Hailemariam Amare followed the leading group to the last round but finished seventh. Kenya's Evans Kiptum finished third and bagged a bronze medal.

Ethiopia took the lead from South Africa in the medal table of athletics and are in tenth place in the overall medal table of the Games.