Teenage runner James Sugira is hoping to meet the minimum A qualification time to compete at the upcoming All Africa Games scheduled for September 4-19 in Congo Brazzaville when he competes at the Kenya National Athletics Championships that start today at Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani in Nairobi.

The 17-year-old middle distance runner, who has been training at the Eldoret High Performance Centre in western Kenya since January, told Times Sport that qualification for the continental event is top of his priorities.

"I have been training hard and my target is to make the mark even though I know it will be tough because I will be competing with world class athletes, most of them world champions but that is the beauty about it. This helps me to improve my time,” explained Sugira in an interview.

Sugira is the first Rwandan to train at the prestigious athletics centre and is keen on replicating his form at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China last year, a personal best after he clocked 3:47:28 in the boys’ 1500m event. This achievement earned him eighth position in the world in the junior category.

Since arriving in Eldoret, Sugira was lucky to train alongside Asbel Kiprop, who specialises in the 1500m distance, renowned for winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as clinching the 2011 and 2013 World Championships titles. He is the reigning 800m Olympic gold medalist.

Sugira has revealed that he has learnt a lot from the Kenyan.

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