Muvunyi storms 800m final

800m T46 Preliminary roundYesterday1. M. Fouzai (Tun) 1:58.082. H. Muvunyi (Rwa) 1:58.183. S. Cheruiyot (Ken) 1:59.23HERMAS Cliff Muvunyi beat off stiff competition from Kenyan and Ethiopian runners to reach the final of the Men’s 800m T46 yesterday at the Olympic stadium in London.Muvunyi ran in a very competitive heat two that comprised of four Africans – Tunisia’s Fouzai Mohammed, Kenya’s Stanley Cheruiyot, Redae Kiross Tekle of Ethiopia and Burundi’s Remy Nikobimeze.He clocked one minute, fifty eight seconds and eighteen micro seconds to finish second behind Tunisia’s Mohamed, who used 1.58.08 to win the race. Kenya’s Cheruiyot finished third with 1.59.23.In the other heat, Austria’s Gunther Matzinger, who won the 400m title on Tuesday, reached the 800m final easily in a time of 1:55.33.Others who qualified for the final include Algeria’s Samir Nouioua, Kenyan duo of Abraham Tarbei and Jonah Chesum Kipkemoi and Morocco’s El Harti Abdelhadi.Muvunyi missed out on his first medal in the 400m T46 when he finished fifth, albeit breaking his own African record in the men’s 400m final on Tuesday.The Men’s 800m T46 final is due on Saturday at 22:00hrs (CAT) and it is the only chance that Muvunyi has to redeem the country’s fortunes following poor performance at the able-bodied London Olympic Games.The 24-year old, a silver medalist at last year’s All Africa Games, will also be on a mission to emulate Jean de Dieu Nkundabera won the country’s first ever Paralympic medal, by taking bronze in the T46 men’s 800 metre race, with a time of 1:58.95 in Athens, eight years ago.

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Muvunyi storms 800m final