Rio 2016 preps start now

WHEN Beijing won the race to host the 2008 Olympic Games in 2002, they started to prepare how they were going to win the most medals, and so the same with London in 2007, no wonder they both finished second and third, respectively, in the overall medals table at the close of play. In 2008, hosts China won 100 medals, including 51 golds (the most at the Games); the United States of America topped the medal count with 110.Great Britain had never won the number of medals (65 including 29 golds) like they won at the London Games. But don’t be fooled, it took them a lot more than just being the host nation to achieve that—they started preparing their athletes as soon they won the rights in 2007.After the disappointment of Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008, all hopes were that at least Rwanda, like any other country that hasn’t won an Olympic medal, would put a few springs in her strides in time for the London Games where the country was represented by a record seven athletes. Only one of them had Olympic experience and the rest were making their debuts, and it will be a debut not to remember for anyone of them in terms of success.It was business as usual as none of the seven athletes finished near the medal positions—only Robert Kajuga set a new personal best time in the men’s 10,000m when he crossed the finish line in 14th position, and it was the best performance of any Rwandan athlete.Team Rwanda captain Adrien Niyonshuti, who became the first Rwandan Mountain Bike Olympian, can only be proud that he at least finished the 94km race, in which 50 competitors started and 40 managed to finish — Rwanda’s flag bearer was in the 39th position.Silver platterWhen it comes to major international competitions, including the biggest of all, the Olympics, it appears as though Rwandans have no ambition, no strategic planning, no enough raw talent and, most importantly, no nerves to learn from past mistakes – the main reason the country’s athletes remain mere participants than competitors.It’s no fault of the athletes that they are always either underprepared or not prepared at all for every Olympic Games, which puts them at a big disadvantage when competing against world class rivals.But rather it is the sports administrators from top to bottom—the people supposed to get ready the athletes, who simply dither when the time comes to show they’re worthy occupying those positions.After Beijing, there were four years to try to put right what went wrong in time for the London Games yet nothing was done until less than a month before the Games started, and the price has been paid.Now that London is over, all serious nations including the US, who dominate the overall medals table in almost every Olympics will start to prepare for Rio 2016 immediately—because they know winning an Olympic medal doesn’t come on a silver platter.With a Ugandan winning gold in the men’s marathon, two Kenyans taking silver and bronze and a Burundian teenage girl running the 800-metre final, it shows that when you put your heart and money into achieving something, and you practice hard and well enough, anything is possible especially in the races that are usually dominated by athletes from the Great Lakes region.Interestingly, the three medal winners in the men’s marathon as well as Great Britain’s double gold winner Mo Farah (10,000m and 5,000m) trained in the same camp (in Kenya) as Rwanda’s Jean Pierre Mvuyekure, who finished in 79th (marathon).

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Rio 2016 preps start now