Rwanda’s lone hope at the 12th IAAF World Indoor Championship slated for March 7-9 in Valencia, Spain departs tonight for Spain. Rukundo, Rwanda’s only flag bearer at the World Indoor Championships finalized a two-week final training in Ruhengeri, Northern Province ahead of the event. Rukundo who will feature in the 3000m alongside regional and world champions is optimistic of reaching the finals in Valencia. I have the confidence and focused at running my best in this world championship, Rukundo said. Rukundo is featuring in this edition after Rwanda failed to send anybody in last year’s edition which was held in Moscow, Russia. Dieudonne Disi who is focusing on the World cross country championship due this month in Edinburgh, Scotland ruled out taking part in this tournament. The 12th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Spain will be the biggest ever multi-national gathering in the history of these championships by a huge margin of 20 IAAF Member Federations. A staggering total of 159 nations have entered athletes to compete on the newly laid competition surfaces of the Palau Velodromo Lluís Puig in Valencia this month. The previous biggest gathering of Federations for these championships was in 2004 in Budapest, Hungary, when a total of 139 delegations took part. Considering that the IAAF World Indoor Championships, after the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, are the biggest global event in the sport, the news of Valencia’s record participation figures gives an enormous additional boost to an event which is already a spectator sell-out.Ends
