After emerging as the only Rwandan athlete to claim a podium finish in the just concluded Kigali International Peace Marathon, Salome Nyirarukundo has set her sights on qualifying for the Africa Athletics Senior Championships slated for June 22-26, in Durban, South Africa.

The 19-year-old long distance runner finished second behind Kenya’s Agnes Jeruto and said that her performance will motivate her to even do better in the 1000m category.

"Last year I finished fourth in the Kigali Peace Marathon and finishing second this time around with only 24 seconds behind the winner is a big motivation to me given the level of who we competed against,” Nyirarukundo said.

"My focus now is to intensify training before taking part in the African Senior Championship next month and my dream is to qualify for the summer Olympic Games,” she added

Nyirarukundo will debut in the continent’s biggest biennial event alongside her two compatriots Beatha Nishimwe and Clementine Mukandaga, who will compete in the women seniors’ category in a bid to qualify for the Olympic Games set for August 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Nyirarukundo and Nishimwe are also part of the five athletes that recently booked tickets to the forthcoming IAAF World Junior Athletics Championships, set for July 19-24 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The other three include 17-year-old Honorine Iribagiza, James Sugira, 19, and 19-year-old Jean Marie Vianney Myasiro.

Rwanda has already booked three athletics tickets for the Olympic Games that includes Netherland-based long distance runner Ambroise Uwiragiye, Jean Baptiste Simukeka and Claudette Mukasakindi.

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