Athletes gear up for U-20 World Championships

The national athletics junior team has entered the final training phase at Amahoro National Stadium ahead of the forthcoming IAAF World Junior Athletics Championships, scheduled for July 19 - 24 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The team will jet off to Poland on Saturday. The team of five comprises three girls and two boys. They include Salome Nyirarukundo, who is fresh from booking her ticket to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the women’s 10,000m. The 19-year-old qualified at the just concluded Africa Senior Athletics Championship in Durban, South Africa. She will be vying for honors in the 5000m. The other girls include 18-year-old Beatha Nishimwe, who will compete in the 1500m race, and 17-year-old Honorine Iribagiza, who will feature in the 800m race. In the boys’ category, Rwanda will be represented by Jean Marie Vianney Myasiro and James Sugira, both 19, and will compete in the 10,000m and 1500m race, respectively. The athletes are currently undergoing daily training sessions at Amahoro national stadium under the guidance of head coach Anicet Kanyabugoyi, who is targeting a podium finish at the biennial tournament. “We want to make a memorable debut and possibly qualify other athletes to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and I have urged all of them to set their targets high at this tournament because we have proved to be real contenders at the world’s biggest competitions,” Kanyabugoyi told Times Sport yesterday. This is the biggest number of qualified athletes the country has ever had in an international competition, and the first time Rwandan athletes are competing in the World Championships after going through trials as they have previously been participating through invitation. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Athletes gear up for U-20 World Championships