Today Women 1500m: Beatha Nishimwe Saturday Women 10,000m: Salome Nyirarukundo RWANDA’s duo of middle and long distance runners Salome Nyirarukundo and Beatha Nishimwe have arrived in Nigeria for the 21st African Athletics Senior Championships. The biennial continental showpiece kicked off on Wednesday at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, Delta State, and will through until August 5. Nishimwe, 19, along with 20-year old Nyirarukundo are the only athletes carrying Rwanda’s flag at the event, which provides entry minima to the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup. The two youngsters attained the entry standard time to African Championships from this year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia from April 4 to 15. Nishimwe and Nyirarukundo, both making their second appearances, arrived in Nigeria on Sunday and have since been training and acclimatising to the environment ahead of their respective competitions – in women’s 1500m and 10,000m respectively. Attempting a podium finish today in 1500m, Nishimwe recorded her personal best of 4 minutes, 8 seconds and 75 microseconds at the 2016 edition in Durban, South African despite missing out on a ticket to the 2016 Olympic Games by just one second. Meanwhile, her compatriot Nyirarukudo, the Kigali International Peace Half Marathon champion, will also be vying for her first podium finish on Saturday, racing women’s 10,000 metres. In 2016, the Rutsiro-born athlete also debuted at the 20th edition of the continental championships where she finished fourth in the same category after clocking 31:45:82, well below the minima time of 32 minutes and 15 seconds to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. This year’s showdown will be used to select Africa’s team to the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup to be staged in Ostrava, Czech Republic on September 8-9. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
