Kwame Karangwa is one of the exceptional and rapidly rising talents in domestic athletics, particularly in the track and field domain.

Despite not managing to train as he wanted due to Covid-19 restrictions, the 18-year-old finished second in the 100m men’s junior category at this year’s national championships, a performance that further cemented his status as a sprinting superstar in the making.

He clocked 12 seconds and 16 microseconds, less than a second short of the national record of 11 seconds and 35 microseconds. Sadjatty Tuyishime used 12 seconds to strike gold.

Born in South Africa to Rwandan parents, in 2002, Karangwa started his athletics journey about 5 years ago while he pursued his studies in Kenya.

"I started with my school team about five years ago,” he said during an exclusive interview with Weekend Sport on Wednesday.

"Trainers taught me the fundamentals and dynamics of athletics, that is how my journey started. Then I continued to work hard and getting better and better.”

Joining the national team

His first engagement with the national team came in 2018 when he took part in the qualifiers for the Youth Olympic Games that took place in Algeria. But, despite not qualifying, Karangwa says it was a learning curve for him.

"I did not really perform well, it was my international debut and I was competed against experienced athletes. It was a good experience for me,” he recalls.

In total, he has competed in about 25 competitions; four with the national team and 21 for his Kenyan school. Of all these, he says, the most memorable was taking part in the ANOCA Zone V Youth Games held in Huye, Southern Province, last year.

"I enjoyed competing against the best from the Eastern African region; especially runners from Egypt and Ethiopia.”

Another one, he added, was at his school where I finished top and set a new record for release and high jump. "From there I was like I want to continue breaking more records.”

Going forward, Karangwa stresses, he targets to ‘keep getting better than the day before’ and improving his own personal bests.

Asked about the challenges he faces in his athletics career, Karangwa highlighted juggling sports and school as his biggest challenge but he hopes that, since he is in his final year of high school, he will find more time to focus on athletics.

"It is tough to balance training and studies, especially that now we are studying online – due to coronavirus pandemic – and have different time zones.”