Kigali Peace Marathon 2017 winners yet to get prize money

Nearly five months since the 13th edition of Kigali International Peace Marathon, the winners of the event are still in the dark over their prize money, Saturday Sport has established. The annual race, that comprised three categories, namely; Full Marathon (42km), Half Marathon (21km) and Run for Fun (7km), attracted over 3500 athletes from across the world. This year’s edition was held on May 21, and according to the organisers Rwanda Athletics Federation (RAF), along with the official event sponsors MTN-Rwanda, RwfRwf90 million had been allocated for the event, representing an increase of Rwf19m compared to the year before. Despite an increase in the budget, the prize money remained the same as last year’s whereby the gold medal winners in both men and women categories would to walk away with Rwf2m, while silver winners would pocket Rwf1.5m and bronze winners Rwf1.2m. However, Salome Nyirarukundo, who made history after becoming the first Rwandan female athlete to win the half marathon, revealed that, until this day, they haven’t received their prize money. “None of us (winners) has received the prize money and we don’t even know why or when we will receive it, I have tried to inquire from the federation and they told me that they requested for the money from the Ministry of Sports and they have not received feedback,” she said. This year’s edition was again dominated by Kenyans in both categories of full marathon while Rwandans registered their best performance ever in half marathon. She added: “Kenyan athletes have been calling me to inquire for them about their money but I also don’t know what is happening, we are just waiting.” According to IAAF rules and regulations, all professional athletes have to undergo doping test before the competition, and normally the results come out a month or two after the race. It’s only after the winners have been declared clean that they get their prizes. However, during this year’s edition, no doping tests were conducted. RAF in budget deficit When contacted the about the athletes’ concerns, RAF president Jean Paul Munyandamutsa confirmed the delay in fulfilling their end of the bargain, revealing that it’s due to the budget deficit they suffered. He, however, noted that the federation and the Ministry of Sports and Culture have made a commitment to sort the issue as soon as possible. “It’s true that they haven’t received their prizes, we incurred a budget deficit and communicated to all concerned parties and we pledged to pay not later than August, but still we couldn’t manage, but we are now finalising it and will sort the issue anytime soon,” said Munyandamutsa. In the men’s full marathon, Kenyan Gilbert Chumba Kipleting won gold posting 2h:19:49 ahead of his compatriots Edwin Kiyeng Kemboi (2h:19:57) and James Tallam (bronze winner) 2h:20:00. Beatrice Rutto Jepkorir took gold in the women’s full marathon after using 2h:46:38, while Pamela Bundotich Chepkoech claimed silver in 2h:47:21 with Sarah Jerop Legat settling for bronze after clocking 2h:47:24. The men’s half marathon was claimed by Kenya’s Bartile Kipkoech Kipto, who used 1h:04:25, followed by Ezekiel Mutai Kimeli, also from Kenya (1h:05:38), with Rwandan John Hakizimana scooping bronze after posting 1h:05:48. Nyirarukundo posted one hour, 15 minutes and 28 seconds en-route to becoming the first Rwandan woman to strike gold, improving on the silver medal she had won the previous year. She beat her nearest challenger, Sheilla Chesang of Kenya, by a almost five minutes — the Kenyan clocking one hour, 20 minutes and 24 seconds to settle for silver, while Rwandan Claudette Mukasakindi claimed bronze after using one hour, 20 minutes and 36 seconds. editorial@newtimes.co.rw