With five months until the 2020 Olympic Games, Rwandan athletes’ hopes to secure qualification to represent the country at the games are in jeopardy due to failure to get competitions in which they can get qualification. The concerns were raised after all sporting activities were recently halted to contain the spike in the covid-19 infections and death toll. As a result, some international competitions in Rwanda were either postponed or cancelled. For instance, the Beach volleyball World Tour, which was scheduled from February 10 -14 in Rubavu, was pushed from February to June while Tour du Rwanda 2021, which was due in February was also rescheduled in May. The Kigali International Peace Marathon was also rescheduled to June while the Rwamagana Marathon and the Heroes Day Cup were both cancelled. For special reasons, however, some teams will continue to prepare for ongoing international sports competitions. AS Kigali football club was given green light to continue training as they bid oust Tunisian club, CS Sfaxien in the CAF Confederation Cup and push through to the group stages while the national Basketball team have also been training for the FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers slated for February 17-21 in Monastir, Tunisia. Other than members of the Cycling team, who were cleared to keep training, some athletes targeting a ticket for the Olympic Games in Beach Volleyball and Athletics want special permission to resume intensive training to prepare for the upcoming competitions in which they can secure qualification to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Games. Olivier Nyagengwa, a member of the national Beach Volleyball team is worried that since they haven’t trained in a long time, it will affect their performance when they resume the quest for a ticket to the Olympic Games in the two remaining qualifying stages. For him, the National Volleyball Federation (FRVB) should be facilitating his team and fellow athletes to resume training, like other teams preparing for international competitions are doing, so they can improve their fitness and performance level. “We have been doing individual training sessions, yes, but that can’t work for us who play as a team. If the federation can facilitate us to resume training for a certain period of time, then we would be able to maintain our fitness and be better prepared to fight for a ticket to participate at the Olympic Games,” he added. The issue of lack of training also worries Rwanda’s Olympic Committee president, Valens Munyabagisha, who suggests federations should be facilitating athletes to be given green light to resume training to better prepare for future competitions which are reaching crucial stages of qualifications. “We are really worried by the fact that some athletes can’t resume training, except those who are training from outside the country. We are in touch with federations to see how athletes can be facilitated,” Munyabagisha said. Lack of competitions Marthe Yankurije, a female athlete who runs in the 10,000m and 5,000m categories said she was able to get a professional coach who is helping to improve her personal best but said all could result to nothing if she does not get competitions to get a minima that can help her qualify for the Olympic Games. “I have a big challenge because there are no competitions in which I can participate. My coach has been helping me train but the competitions in this period are still a problem,” she said. The same applies to the national men’s Beach Volleyball team which is two stages away from winning a ticket to represent the country in the Olympic Games. According to Ntagengwa, his team is still among the favorites to win if the federation facilitates them to get friendlies or competitions outside the country to improve their performance ahead of their bid for Olympic Games qualification. “If we get a chance to participate at a big open competition where we can meet big teams in the world, then it can help win a ticket in the remaining qualifying games,” he said. Rwanda sits third in the African Beach Volleyball rankings behind Morocco and Mozambique, meaning the national team would miss out on the chance of making it into the Olympic Games should competitions continue to be postponed or halted. There is a possibility that the International Volleyball Federation could consider the top two nations to represent Africa in the Games if the final qualifying rounds fall through. To keep their hopes alive, Rwanda would still be in a position to book the ticket only if the federation can help his team to participate in one of the competitions recognised by FIVB that are likely to happen as it can boost their points in case they perform well. Leandre Karekezi, the FRVB president told Times Sport that his federation is searching for competitions for the Beach Volleyball teams. “We know there are competitions that the team is supposed to participate in and discussions on how we can facilitate them to get competitions are underway. Yes, we know time is running out but [finding competitions] is in process,” Karekezi said.
