Men 100mPascal Nshimiyimana 11.31Rodjab Muvandimwe 11.58Emmanuel Sibomana 11.82 Women 100mSophia Kakuze 12.86Jeanette Uwera 13.41Joseline Nyiraneza 13.76 Men 10,000mEric Sebahire 30.38Jean Marie Vianney Uwajeneza 30:40.42Jean Baptiste Ruvubi 31:00.36 Eric Sebahire clocked 30:38 to retain the men’s 10,000 metres title at the National Athletics Championships held yesterday at Amahoro National Stadium. The APR runner fended off competition from Janvier Uwajeneza of New Athletics Stars (NAS) club, who crossed the line two seconds later to post 30:40.42. Sebahire expressed joy for defending his title, “I am very happy that I won today. This is the beginning of my preparations for the World Athletics Championships next year.” The 31-year-old is anxious to represent Rwanda at the IAAF event that will be hosted in Beijing, China, from August 22-30 and has already set out a workout plan and believes that he will meet the standard requirements. Clementine Mukandanga from NAS posted 16:57.30 to win the women’s 5000m as APR’s Salome Nyirarukundo clocked 16:47.30. Mukandanga also won the women’s 1500m posting 4:29.87 while Nyirarukundo clinched the women’s 3000m title clocking 9:44.54. In the men’s 100m, Pascal Nshimiyimana of Vision Jeunesse crossed the line after 11.31, 27 seconds ahead of second placed Rodjab Muvandimwe while in the women’s event APR’s Sophia Kakuze came first in 12.86 seconds. Kakuze also won the women’s 200m in 25.91. The Rwanda Athletics Federation technical director John Peter Ndacyayisenga expressed concern about the poor times set by the athletes but acknowledged an improvement in the performances of the juniors. Field events like jumping and throwing were cancelled because most of the participants are currently sitting for their A’level examinations. Meanwhile, the top three participants in each of the 16 events received a cash prize from UAE Exchange, a global money transfer company in Kigali. The winners received Rwf30,000 each while the first and second runners-up walked away with Rwf20,000 and Rwf10,000.
