Rwanda’s athletes searching for Beijing minimum qualification standards have shifted their training camps to Kenya ahead of the Olympic Games set for August 8-24 in China. The athletes who include Slyvain Rukundo and Angelline Nyiransabimana have joined Kaptagat and Eldoret high altitude training centers to prepare for European championship set for June where their major aim will be to beat the minimum qualification standard. Rukundo has been sponsored by the Kenya athlete Benjamin Lima to train intensively in the Kaptagat centre, which is owned by the United Kingdom based Athletics body, Pace Sport management. While Nyiransabimana trains at HPTC Eldoret under the sponsorship of Olympic Solidarity Scholarship. The 21-year-old who is expected to compete in both 5000m and 10000m has not yet secured the minimum qualification standards for this year’s Beijing Games. Nyiransabimana is among the six foreign athletes under the Olympic programme in the camp that will head to Italy for a training stint. She will join five other athletes from Zambia, Malawi, Liberia, Gabon and Sri-Lanka in training at sea level next week. Only Rukundo, Nyiransabimana and Felix Ntirenganya (marathon) are the only targeted athletes who will benefit from the RNOC’s sponsorship in bid to attain Olympic marks next month. Currently, Dieudonne Disi (10.000m) and Epiphanie Nyirabarame (marathon) are the only athletes who have qualified for the Games. Ends
