Rwandan athletes are going through intensive training sessions as they prepare for the forthcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth games.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games are scheduled to kick off on July 28 and will run until August 8 this year in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Rwanda will be represented in the Games by 20 athletes including athletics, Cycling, Swimming and Wheelchair basketball.

The National Olympic committee (RNOSC) registered Sitting volleyball among the games in which Rwanda would participate at the Commonwealth Games but no approval has been issued from the organizers yet.

The team, however, continues to train as they wait for confirmation.

Theogene Uwayo, the president of the National Olympic Committee, said that all the teams that were confirmed to participate at the Games, have been undergoing training sessions in the past few months as they bid to impress against the best of athletes from member countries of the Commonwealth.

"Athletes are already training and we hope they will perform well in the games. We hope they will try their best even if these are highly-competitive games in which athletes sometimes struggle to qualify,” Uwayo said.  

"The Commonwealth Games attract high-profile athletes and that makes them very competent. We can target a medal, yes, but we can also end up missing out on it. We are a committee, we are doing our best and we look forward to the outcomes,” he said.

The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games, is an international multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations.

The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, has taken place every four years since then.

In November last year, Rwanda received the Queen’s Baton Relay where it spent three days before heading to Tanzania, as part of the traditions of the Commonwealth Games through which the Baton is taken to various destinations before the start of 2022 games start in Birmingham, UK.