NPC lauds Muvunyi's heroic display at Grand Prix de Tunis

The National Paralympics Committee (NPC) has paid glowing tribute to the reigning World T46-800m champion Hermas Cliff Muvunyi for his impressive performance at the recently concluded 9th IPC Grand Prix de Tunis in Tunisia. The 27-year-old Paralympian won two Gold medals in the Men’s T46-800m and 400m respectively at the Tunisia International Meet last week and also finished fifth in the 1500m category. Muvunyi clocked 2 minutes to grab gold in 800m on March 24th before using 51 seconds to hit gold in 400m two days later. In an interview with Times Sport, NPC Chairman Celestin Nzeyimana said the talented runner did great in Tunisia and the Paralympics governing body will keep helping him to get better ahead of this year’s All Africa Games and IPRC World Athletics Championships respectively. “Muvunyi has never ceased to impress and fly high Rwanda’s flag in international events; winning two gold medals at such a big competition is commendable. We will continue to help him as much as we can so that he can do even better in future,” Nzeyimana told this paper. He also noted that if NPC had the financial means, they would give Muvunyi a handsome cash prize for his exceptional performance and urged that the National Olympics Committee or the Ministry of Sports to do something. Muvunyi also got the minimum qualification required for this year’s IPC Athletics World Championships scheduled for October 22-31 in Doha, Qatar at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium. Lyon (France) hosted the 2013 edition and London will host the 2017 edition. The soft spoken Muvunyi will be in Qatar to defend the Men’s 800m- T46 category gold medal he won in the Lyon championships in July 2013 as well as fighting to also bag a medal in 400-T46 category that he didn’t compete in last time round due to a knee injury. The forthcoming world championships will feature 210 medal events, 119 for men and 91 for women athletes respectively. editorial@newtimes.co.rw