OVER 60 athletes representing ten sports disciplines will represent Rwanda during the second African Youth Games set to take place in Gaborone, Botswana in May. The disciplines include; swimming, athletics, golf, boxing, basketball, cycling, fencing, judo, tennis and volleyball. Elia Manirarora, the AYG Chef de Mission, who also doubles as the vice president of the National Olympic Committee told Saturday Sport recently. “We have selected potential young athletes for the upcoming games with the help of respective federations. The athletes will train with the help of their federations before getting in a residential camp two weeks ahead of the competition,” said Manirarora. Some of the youngsters picked in the provisional list include Ernest Habiyambere (tennis), James Sugira (athletics), Delphine Uwababyeyi (Judo) and swimmer Alphonsine Agahozo among others. The Games which are scheduled for May 22 to 31, are expected to attract around 4000 athletes from 54 African countries. They will compete in more than 14 sports disciplines. The eligible athletes are aged between 14 and 18 years. The Games will serve as a useful preparation platform for the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China set for August. The African Youth Games is a multi-sport event held every four years to complement the current All Africa Games. The first edition was hosted by Rabat, Morocco in 2010 under the auspices of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa.
