Heat 11. Adanech Anbesa (Eth) 4:15:532. Joyline Cherotich (Ken) 4:16:413. Beatha Nishimwe (Rwa) 4:17:854. Christina Aragona (USA) 4:18:93

Rwanda’s Beatha Nishimwe has made a good start at the ongoing IAAF World Junior Athletics Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland after qualifying for the final of the girls’ 1500m race scheduled for tomorrow.

The 18-year-old, who is making her debut at the biennial competition, finished fourth in her 1500m heats at Stadion Zawisza on Friday after clocking 4:17:85 to book a ticket to the final. The top four in the two heats qualified.

Ethiopian Adanech Anbesa won heat 1 after posting 4:15:53 and was followed by Kenya’s Joyline Cherotich, who used 4:16:41 while Christina Aragona from United States of America, finished fourth in a time of 4:18:93.

Nishimwe is the first Rwandan athlete to qualify for the final after the duo of James Sugira (1500m) and Honorine Iribagiza (800m) failed to make it in their respective heats on Tuesday while Jean Marie Vianney Mysairo failed a podium finish in the men’s 10,000m final.

However, Nishimwe’s chances of clinching a medal against the other seven finalists are quite remote given the fact that athletes in heat 2 used better times compared to those in heat 1.

Kenyan Winfred Nzisa Mbithe clocked 4:12:39 to come first in heat 2, and was followed by Alexa Efraimson (USA), who posted 4:13:13, Ethiopian Fantu Worku came third, clocking 4:13:84 while Great Britain’s Bobby Clay finished fourth posting 4:15:79.

Meanwhile, there was better news coming from Poland that Salome Nyirarukundo, who has been down with high fever and cough, has significantly improved and is expected to compete in the girls’ 5,000m final today, at 10:30am Central African Time.

"Salome has recovered and did take part in training on Friday morning, so we hope she will be ready to compete on Saturday (today),” said the Rwanda Athletics Federation (RAF) secretary general, Johnson Rukundo, who is the head of the delegation.

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