National long distance athlete, Gervais Hakizimana has vowed to build a career in steeplechase. “I am very optimistic that given good training I will be the best player of steeplechase in the country,” Hakizimana, who also runs the 1500m, 5000m, 10000m and half Marathon (21m) noted. The APR Athletics Club player acknowledged that after testing himself against some of Kenya’s best runners at the discipline recently during a brief training stint in Eldoret, he is full convinced about his chances of making a long-term career out of it (steeplechase). The athlete, who was left put of the team that took part in this year’s African Senior Championship held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia appealed to both the local athletics federation and the National Olympics Committee to give a chance to fight for the minimums standard (time) for the Beijing Olympics. However, officials at Rwanda Athletics Federation insist that, the 24-year-old was overlooked for the African Championship on disciplinary grounds and that their stand remains the same to date. RAF accuses Hakizimana of travelling to Kenya for training without their consent; something that they say is a sign of indiscipline. So far only Dieudonne Disi (10.000M) and Epiphanie Nyirabarame (full marathon) have qualified for the Beijing Games. Hakizimana’s problem is that steeplechase is not among RAF’s plans neither is it played in the country despite the availability of its equipment in the ministry of Sports and Culture. The president of Rwanda Athletics Federation Jean-Paul Munyandamutsa, during a press conference prior to the Kigali International Peace marathon last week, advocated for steeplechase to be incorporated among the athletics disciplines in the local calendar, starting next year. Ends
