Moncton — Uganda won two bronze medals to finish 36th out of 169 countries at the World Junior Athletics Championships that concluded here Sunday.

The revelation, however, was that there are new stars coming up and ready to take on the world's best. But worth noting is the way that the medals came. The more senior athletes on the team in Moses Kibet and Alex Cherop played second fiddle to rookies.

"There was something wrong with the seniors. They refused to heed to the advice and they paid for that. The juniors on the other hand were focused," explained national coach Muhammed Abdallah after the closing ceremony.

Though she has been around for about two years, Annet Negesa, who won the first bronze medal in the women 800m, has never had professional training. This left the Kenyan technical team surprised about the new talent, which they believe is the only answer to South Africa's Caster Semenya.

"She has the power and energy but lacks the technical touch. If she comes down to Kenya, we can help her get that because she is promising. In fact I saw gold in her during the heats," said one of the Kenyan coaches.

Araptany shines

Jacob Araptany, on the other hand, was just competing in his sixth steeplechase competition, having run one last year, two this year and then the heats and final in the world event.

"I have realised that I can do something and I am going to invest my time for better results," said Araptany, who ran with an ankle injury.

The performance extended Uganda's run of at least a medal in the last four championships. Boniface Kiprop won gold in the 10000m (Grosetto, 2004), Abraham Chepkirwok won bronze in 800m (Beijing 2006) and Benjamin Kiplagat won silver in the 3000mSC (Bydgoszcz, 2008).

However, the puzzle remains as to when the local athletics federation will solve the transition between the junior to the senior levels. None of the junior winners has succeeded after graduating to the senior level.

Only Dorcus Inzikuru, who won a medal in the junior championships in 2005 came back to win gold in the senior category.

Uganda's performance

Bronze medal

A. Negesa (800m) and J. Araptany (3000mSC)

Fourth place

Moses Kibet (5000m)

Finals

J. Chebet (5000m) and 10000m)

Heats

A. Negesa (1500m)

M. Kibet and A. Cherop (1500m)

A. Cherop (800m)