How Ethiopia’s Wakuma raced walked his way into the history books in Brasília

Misgana Wakuma of Ethiopia won a silver medal at the Caixa World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Brasília, becoming the first Ethiopian athlete to win a global race walking medal and achieving the highest finish ever by an African athlete in the history of the World Race Walking Team Championships. The 21-year-old, who switched from running to race walking five years ago, subsequently retained his African 20km race walk title in Accra with a national record of 1:18:47. Remarkably, Wakuma trains largely without a formal coach, working alongside a small group of young athletes.