RWANDA’s pair of Epiphanie Nyirabarame and Slyvain Rukundo start preparations today ahead of the IAAF World Championship in Daegu, Korea in August.

The team’s head coach Emmanuel Murenzi told Times Sport yesterday that the duo arrived in the country over the weekend and would join camp immediately to shape up for the upcoming World Championship.

"Rukundo has returned from Italy while Nyirabarame has been participating in the World Military Games. We are starting preparation together on Monday (today),” said Murenzi.

The pair will use the Daegu championship to search for minimum qualifications to enable them compete at the London 2012 Olympic Games

"When I analyze how each one of them has performed in the last couple of months, I remain optimistic they will be able to qualify for the Olympics Games,” noted the vastly experienced trainer.

Nyirabarame finished sixth in the full marathon at the World military games in Brazil a week ago clocking two hours, fifty one minutes and fifty eight seconds, while Rukundo ran a personal best time of 13.41.00 in 5000 metres two weeks ago in Italy.

In Daegu, Rukundo will compete in both 5000m and 10000m while Nyirabarame will compete in half marathon. The pair will training in Kigali.

The 2011 World Athletics Championships set for Aug. 27 to Sept. 4 in Daegu, South Korea.

Ends