KAMPALA, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's star athlete Peruth Chemutai said she was happy with her second place finish in the Wanda Diamond League in Shanghai/Suzhou on Saturday.

The Tokyo Olympics gold medalist finished second with a time of 9:15.46 behind Kenya's Beatrice Chepkoech in the 3,000m women's steeplechase at the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.

"I am very happy that I continue to improve as we get closer to the Paris Olympics," Chemutai said on Sunday.

Chemutai made it clear that after coming third in the previous Diamond League event in Xiamen a week ago, she is getting better. "I continue to work hard because my focus remains to defend the gold medal I won at the Tokyo Olympics," she added.

The 24-year-old Ugandan, who took a silver medal at the African Games in Ghana in March, made it clear that she still has room for improvement.

Dominic Otuchet, President of the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF), told Xinhua that Chemutai is among the athletes they trust to win Uganda a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

"She is working hard and her results this year can show that she is putting in a lot of effort preparing for the big showdown in France during the Olympics," explained Otuchet.

World 5,000m and 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo, who retained the World Cross Country Championship gold this year in Serbia, are the other two Ugandan medal prospects at the Paris Olympics. Enditem

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