THE national athletics junior team has intensified preparation for the East Africa Junior Athletics Championship that is scheduled to be held from April 29 to 30 in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

A team of seven athletes—three boys and four girls, are currently undergoing daily training at Amahoro national stadium ahead of the 4th regional track and field competition that will also act as qualifier for the IAAF World Junior Athletics Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland from July 19 - 24.

"Preparations are going on pretty well and we hope to qualify more athletes to the World Championships from this competition,” said Rwanda Athletics Federation (RAF) secretary general, Johnson Rukundo said on Friday.

The seven athletes include the trio of Salome Nyirarukundo (5000m), Beatha Nishimwe (1500m) and Jean Marie Vianney Myasiro (10,000m), who have already booked tickets to World Championship during last month’s national junior championship trials.

The other four are; Jeannette Uwambajimana (5000m) and Honorine Iribagiza (800m) and two boys James Sugira (1500m) and Ildephonse Nkejumuto (800m). The team is set to travel to Dar-Es-salaam on April 26 and return on May 01.

This will be the first time for Rwandan athletes to compete in the World U-20 Championships after going through national trials and qualifications—initially local athletes have been participating through invitations.

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