The Rwanda Olympic Committee president, Theogene Uwayo, has said that major changes are needed in the way athletes prepare for competitions if Rwanda is to end its medal drought in future Olympic Games.  

Uwayo was reflecting on Rwandan athletes’ disappointing performance at the 2020 Olympic Games that concluded on Sunday, August 8, in Tokyo, Japan.

Rwanda was represented by five athletes namely cyclist Moise Mugisha who competed in men’s road race, swimming duo Eloi Maniraguha and Alphonsine Agahozo who competed on men and women’s 50m freestyle as well as athletes Marthe Yankurije and John Hakizimana.

Yankurije competed in the women’s 5 000m race while her compatriot Hakizimana raced in the men’s full marathon on the final day of the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Everyone had an ambition to help the country put an end to the 37-year wait for an Olympic medal. However, the athletes yet again failed to end the country’s Olympic medal drought and returned home empty-handed after the Tokyo edition ended in disappointment.

To Uwayo, Rwandan athletes’ results at the Tokyo 2020 Games give his office an opportunity to revisit the way Rwanda prepares athletes, coaching, budget and infrastructure.

"We obviously need to revisit the way we prepare athletes, coaching, budget, and infrastructure. We need to revisit the way we do things. It’s obvious that we don’t invest all that is need to prepare an athlete to compete at the level of the Olympic Games,” admits Uwayo.

Uwayo told Times Sport that there is a big gap in budget invested in Rwandan athletes and appeals for concerted efforts to improve the level of preparing them prior to future Olympic competitions.

"Those who take medals home are doing so because there are certain investments put in them that we don’t put in ours. It’s not because we don’t want to invest in them, but we lack that investment most of the times. There weren’t enough means put in preparing our athletes,” he said.

Relying on invitations

The majority of athletes [four out of five] that represented Rwanda at Tokyo 2020 Games, went there through invitations hence their results didn’t surprise Uwayo anyhow, just like other Rwandans who follow closely the Olympic Games.

"Some athletes get invitations to the Olympic Games because they failed to qualify. It was just for the sake of the fact that the country is supposed to be represented,” he said.

He defended the athletes’ performance insisting that they delivered depending on the way they were prepared.

"The athletes are not to blame. The solution must be found elsewhere and we must open up our eyes to achieve the targeted results. There are means missing from preparing coaches, the budget, how long an athlete is prepared and so forth…and if you don’t do it, you can’t achieve anything,” he explained.

As athletes turn focus to Paris 2024 Games, Uwayo claimed that the sports sector still lacks enough funding to tick accordingly and called for investments in the sector just like it happens in other sectors of development.

"There are means we need to be given to make this happen. Sports needs to be invested in, just like health, education and so forth. But if it can’t be done like that, I don’t think we will go a single step ahead,” he claimed.

"There is no magic in winning medals because when you invest, things go right. It’s a debate that we must involve all sports federations to find the solution. Otherwise we will remain that way if we don’t invest in what is needed,” he added.