Athletics: Rwandan trio on verge of 2022 African qualification

Three Rwandan athletes Celine Iranzi, Justin Nsengiyumva and Yves Nimubona put up impressive performances during the National Track and Field Series’ in Kigali to secure provisional tickets to represent Rwanda at the 2022 African Athletics Championships. The continental athletics event, which is in its 23rd edition, is scheduled to take place from June 8-12 at the Côte d’Or Sports Complex in Mauritius. The competition at Amahoro stadium saw three from a total of 534 athletes who took part in the event, strike provisional times required by the International Association of Athletics Association (IAAF), in their respective categories, to stand a chance to take part in the event in Mauritius. For instance, Police Athletic Club sprinter Justin Nsengiyumva clocked 10.76 seconds in the men’s 100m category, to strike the 11 second minimum times that were set by Rwanda Athletics Federation (RAF) prior to the race. He struck gold during last weekend’s sprint ahead of his teammate Jean Claude Bizimana who came second with 11.14 seconds while Pascal Nshimiyimana (11.44 seconds), who plays for Rutsiro Athletics Club completed the podium. In the men’s 5000m category, APR Athletics Club’s middle-distance runner Yves Nimubona struck gold after clocking 13 hours and 55 minutes against the 13 hours and 45 seconds required by the federation. Nimubona’s teammate Celestin Nkudumuremyi and Emmanuel Mutabazi Emmanuel completed the podium during the race. The Sina Gerrard Athletics Club’s female athlete claimed the top spot ahead of APR’s Juliet Nyirantezimana who clocked 37’ 10’’ 58’’’ and third-placed Clementine Nyirantezimana (Rwanda National Police) with 37 25 43. The trio will wait for the IAAF to approve their qualification to the African Athletics Championships but RAF Secretary General Jean Paul Niyintunze, said the federation is already focused on helping to prepare for the competition by beginning the training sessions as early as possible. “We are going to organize a training camp for them and make sure that they get enough time for training so that they can perform well at the African championships,” Niyintunze said. The African Athletics Confederation (CAA) has registered the transfer of the 2022 African Championships from Cameroon to Mauritius after the former said they were not ready to host the event. The Côte d’Or Sports Complex, which will be home of the event, has previously hosted part of the 2019 Indian Ocean Islands Games.