Rwanda Athletics Federation (RAF) has said that measures have been devised ahead of the 14th Kigali International Peace Marathon to ensure that there will be no delays for the winners to receive their prize money. Newly elected RAF president Fidèle Mubiligi told Times Sport that there won’t be a repeat of last year’s incident when the winners delayed to receive their prizes. The 2018 edition of the annual event is scheduled for May 20 and it is expected to attract up to 8000 athletes from different parts of the world. Previously, Kenyan athletes, who have been dominated the marathon, have complained about delays in receiving their prize money which was largely blamed on budget constraints as well as the late arrival of doping results. The doping test is normally taken a day before the marathon by officials from the regional Anti-Doping Organization based in Kenya. Last year only, the medalists had to wait for about seven months to receive their jackpot after the federation confirmed that it had suffered a budget deficit and the Ministry of Sports and Culture had to intervene to provide more funds. “It is true that we have been facing that problem, at least in the past. However, we won’t allow it to happen this time round. I can assure athletes that this year they will receive their prize money on time,” said Mubirigi. In a bid to facilitate more foreign athletes’ participation, Mubirigi noted that the athletics federation has also struck a deal with their regular partner RwandAir for athletes from abroad to travel to Kigali on a 20 per cent discount. During the official launch of the event two weeks ago, it was revealed that the budget for this year’s edition is Rwf120 million, up from Rwf90 million last year. Nonetheless, the prize money will remain the same as last year, with gold winners in both men and women categories taking home Rwf2 million, silver medalists Rwf1.5 million, while bronze winners will get Rwf1.2 million. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
