Rwanda National Olympics Committee (RNOC) and Rwanda Athletics Federations (RAF) are to blame for the local athletes’ failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games, Times Sport has established. The National Olympics Committee is responsible for the failure of the athletes to attain the minimums standards for the Olympic Games, is the verdict of Police Athletics Club coach. Martin Uwimana dropped the bombshell while reacting to a question regarding the poor performance of the national athletics team at the recently concluded African Senior Athletics Championship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Rwandan team was even classified after finishing outside the top ten at the championship dominated by South Africa, followed by Kenya with the hosts, Ethiopia coming third. Last year, RAF set themselves a target of having at least six athletes qualify for Beijing Games, scheduled for August 8-24. But so far only two, Dieudonne Disi (10.000m) and Epiphanie Nyirabarame (marathon) have qualified. I doubt if RAF will get the six athletes they wants to see qualify for the Beijing Games with just two months left, Uwimana added. Ideally, preparations for the Olympic Games start at least 4 years prior to the event, but for Rwanda’s case, their preparations are normally started at the eleventh hour. Ends
