Faustin Mpamo (5,000m)Tharcile Mukabahizi (1,500m)Diane Nyirabizeyimana (800m)Jeanette Uwera (100 & 200m)The national junior athletics team is in Tanzania to compete in this year’s Zone IV Junior Athletics Championships, which is scheduled for Saturday in Dar es Salaam.The six-man delegation, which left country on Tuesday by road, was led by Rwanda Athletics Federation’s vice president Thomas Kajuga. The other member, apart from the four athletes, was coach Anicet Kanyabugoyi.The only male athlete on the team, Faustin Mpamo, 19 from New Athletics Stars club will compete in the 5,000m.The rest including 17-year-old Tharcile Mukabahizi and 19-year old Jeanette Uwera from Kamonyi club will run in the girls’ 1,500m and 100 & 200m categories respectively, while 16-year-old Diane Nyirabizeyimana of Rubavu-based New Vision athletics club, will race in the 800m category. “Our target is to qualify for the Africa junior championships and I believe the four athletes have got the ability to make it happen,” the national athletics federation’s Secretary General, Johnson Rukundo told Times Sport.The 11th African Junior Championships will be held from August 29 to September 1 in Mauritius.The Zone IV junior Championships has attracted eight countries namely; Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Zanzibar, Rwanda and the hosts Tanzania.Meanwhile, Robert Kajuga and Jean Pierre Mvuyekure have intensified their preparations in Kenya as they gear up for the 14th World Championships in Moscow, Russia from August 10-18.While, the trio of Claudette Mukasakindi, Frederick habakurama and Eric Sebahire is also in Kenya training for the 7th Francophone Games to be held in Nice, France from September 7-15.
