Nakaayi, Cheptegei march on in World Champs.

RESULTS
*800m heats – Halimah Nakaayi (2:01.41) advances into semis
*5000m semis – Cheptegei & Oscar Chelimo advance

FRIDAY
*800m W semis – Halimah Nakaayi – 4.35am (Saturday morning )

Eugene, Oregon, USA AGENCIES | Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi started the defence of her 800m title, by marching to the semifinals of the World Athletics Championships on Thursday afternoon. Nakaayi came second in her heat in 2:01.41 to automatically advance.

Joshua Cheptegei later started his bid for double glory in the 5,000 and 10,000m by doing the bare minimum to qualify for Sunday’s final.

The heat he raced in was won by Uganda’s Oscar Chebet in 13:24.24, with the double World 10,000m champion coming in 4th in 13:24.47. The top five advance automatically.

The other Uganda Peter Maru came in 14th in 13:47.65 and did not advance.