Olympics Committee blames federations for Commonwealth Games medals drought

The National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC) says the failure to win medals during the 2018 Gold Coast Games is a result of poor preparations of athletes by the responsible federations. Rwanda sent a contingent of 17 athletes to the games however the results were not any different from previous performances as the country failed to win any medal. While addressing the media on Friday, Rwanda National Olympics and Sports Committee president, Valens Munyabagisha said the clubs and federation did not play their role as expected by failing to engage athletes in more competitions ahead of the games. “ RNOSC and the Sports Ministry are not tasked to train or prepare athletes, what we do is to make sure athletes receive the required resources and are facilitated to make sure they attend the games,” he said adding that the federations didn’t do enough to ensure athletes were prepared. He further urged sports bodies to play their role, starting with talent identification, to regularly organize as many competitions as possible so that a huge number of athletes can be sent either to the Olympics 2020 like it is done in other countries. Munyabagisha acknowledged that the reason why other countries win medals is that they prepare and send a big contingent of athletes to participate in many sports disciplines. RNOSC is set to convene a meeting in the few days which will include all sports clubs, federations and sports partners to pave a way forward. Eugene Nzabanterura, who was the head of the Commonwealth delegation also emphasized that early preparation determines the performance of athletes. “We have to increase the number of athletes to enroll in many sports disciplines if we are to perform well in Tokyo,” He said giving an example of Australian athletes who began preparing four years before the competition. editorial@newtimes.co.rw