The national athletics junior team begins the hunt for medals at this year’s IAAF World Junior Athletics Championships, which starts today through July 24 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The team, comprising five athletes – three girls and two boys – left the country on Saturday and arrived in the northern city of Poland the next day ahead of their debut appearance at the biennial international event that attracts athletes aged between 16 and 19 years. “The team arrived in Warsaw (the capital of Poland) safely, and then made a four-hour journey by road to Bydgoszcz. The athletes are ready for the competition starting tomorrow morning,” the Rwanda Athletics Federation secretary general, Johnson Rukundo, told Times Sport by phone on Monday. First on the track today will be 19-year old James Sugira in the 1500m heat at 10:30a.m (CAT) before 17-year-old Honorine Iribagiza enters the women fray at 11a.m in the 800m heat. The duo will be seeking to finish in the top three to be able to qualify for the semi-finals. Later in the evening, at 8:15p.m, Jean Marie Vianney Myasiro will race in the boys’ 10,000m final seeking to clinch Rwanda’s first medal. The other two, Salome Nyirarukundo (19), Beatha Nishimwe (18), will compete tomorrow in the 5,000m and 1500m heats, respectively. The five athletes are under the guidance of head trainer Anicet Kanyabugoyi, who is assisted by Innocente Uwamahoro. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
