Three Rwandan athletes including APR Athletics club duo Yves Nimubona, Marthe Yankurije and Honorine Iribagiza, who runs for Sina Gerard Athletics Club, have arrived in Lusaka, Zambia ahead of the Zambia Athletics Championships slated from May 15-16. The trio is looking for qualification to participate in the 2020 Olympic Games scheduled for July in Tokyo, Japan. Local athletes have been struggling for competitions in which they can participate in and qualify for the Olympic Games after different competitions across the continent and beyond were either postponed or cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic. The competition could this time come as the ‘last chance’ for the athletes to qualify for the Tokyo 2020, according to Fidele Mubiligi, the President of Rwanda Athletics Federation. “The qualifications for the Tokyo 2020 Games end in June but I think our athletes should take advantage of this competition because it is their last chance to qualify for the Olympic Games,” Mubiligi told Times Sport. Yankurije, who has been searching for qualification in the 10 000m distance, will be competing in the 5000m race after she and the federation realised that her time in the 10 000m distance didn’t meet the standard to participate at the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, Nimubona will be competing in the 10 000m race while Iribagiza is looking for a ticket for the Tokyo 2020 Games in the 1 500m distance. Lusaka is one of the centres for the African Athletics Confederations alongside Algiers (Algeria), Lome (Togo), Dakar (Senegal) and Eldoret (Kenya) among others.
