The country’s leading l long distance athlete, Dieudonne Disi has urged the government to provide sufficient funds to its athletes to help them prepare for next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Disi attributed Rwanda’s failure to win medals at the just ended IAAF World Championships in Osaka to poor preparations. Despite his 11th spot finish, Disi was contented with his performance. His team mate, Angelline Nyiransabimana who was making her debut at the competition also finished 11th. Disi has accused Rwanda Athletics Federation (RAF) for failing to facilitate the duo’s preparations ahead of the world event. “We failed to qualify for the final stages due to poor preparations, otherwise our overall performance was not that bad compared to past World championship editions,” he said. Disi, who is Rwanda’s most successful athlete for the past three decades, believes the government has to start realising funds if the country is to put up an improved show in Beijing. “We are not happy with the way government is concentrates on football at the expense of athletics and other sports. It should do the same thing in other sports too,” he said. The national Athletics team head coach, Adolph Rukenkanya, concurs with Disi saying that Rwanda will not reap anything in Beijing if the government doesn’t act now. “For athletes to compete at the top level, they have to undergo good preparations,” Rukenkanya said.Ends
