Bounce back delights Nakaayi

Halimah Nakaayi will hope to finish her season on a high at the Wanda Diamond League (DL) final in Zurich, Switzerland next month following a bounce-back feel.

Nakaayi appeared to have shaken off the bits of fatigue from her long season after she finished fourth in the 800m at the Lausanne DL Meeting on Friday night.

The former world champion was not in her best state but broke the two-minute barrier once again to clock one minute and 59.73 seconds at the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise.

“The race was good,” Nakaayi remarked. “I am happy for every opportunity that comes into my life,” she said.

The 27-year-old complained of a body wear out after her body failed to respond in the final stretch of the 800m final on August 6 during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in England.

And understandably so. Nakaayi and her compatriot Winnie Nanyondo had barely rested. A few days prior, they had just come back from the tedious trip for Oregon World Championships in the USA and actually, they needed to secure UK visas first via the Netherlands.

On Friday, Nakaayi turned up for her 12th outdoor race of the season and one may as well skip her seven races she had done indoors earlier in the year.

But, she had a strong start on the inside but race traffic after 200m slowed her down. The field crossed the half-way mark inside 57.3 seconds as the pacemaker German Jackie Baumann led.

Nakaayi’s split at 400m was 58.2 in seventh and she improved to sixth but needed a powerful kick in the final 80m to take fourth as Great Britain’s Jemma Reekie in third was quite a distance.

The race was won by French Renelle Lamote who posted a personal best (PB) time of 1:57.84 and budding American star Allie Wilson posted a PB of 1:58.09 in second.

Nakaayi, who ran under two minutes for the fifth time in the season, will stay in Europe ahead of the DL final set for September 7-8.

LAUSANNE DIAMOND LEAGUE

WOMEN’S 800M RESULT

1 Rénelle Lamote (FRA) 1:57.84

2 Allie Wilson (USA) 1:58.09

3 Jemma Reekie (GBR) 1:59.00

4 Halimah Nakaayi (UGA) 1:59.73

NAKAAYI IN 2022 (800M OUTDOOR)

May 7: Kip Keino, 5th (2:00.93)

May 28: Prefontaine Classic, 6th (1:59.94)

Jun 6: FBK Games, 2nd (2:00.87)

Jun 9: Rome DL, 10th (2:01.15)

Jun 16: Bislett Games, 4th (1:58.68)

Jun 30: Bauhaus Gala, 4th (1:58.85)

Jul 21: Oregon Worlds Heat 3, 2nd (2:01.41)

Jul 22: Oregon Worlds Semi-Final 3, 8th (2:01.05)

Aug 2: Commonwealth Games Heat 1, 2nd (1:59.35)

Aug 6: Commonwealth Games Final, 8th (2:01.17)

Aug 10: Monaco DL, 6th (2:00.02)

Aug 26: Lausanne DL, 4th (1:59.73)