Thursday ISF games athletics finals
800m-girls-Maurine Chebet and Priscilla Akello
800m Boys-Raymond Omara
2000m-girls-Loice Chekwemoi
2000 steeplechase-Abel Chebet
Today is a busy day for the Uganda team as they hunt for honours in the ongoing International Schools Sports Federation (ISF) games in the northern Normandy region in France.
Uganda’s prospects strongly lie in athletics, badminton and swimming, where the athletes have qualified to the medal bracket.
And as Ugandans hit the track to compete for honours in this highly competitive outing, all eyes are on Loice Chekwemoi, who will be competing in the 2000m finals and later in the 1500m finals on Friday at the Caen athletics grounds, together with Uganda’s most successful swimmer Kirabo Namutebi.
Chekwemoi won her heat in the 1500m qualifying round in style on Tuesday, after coming home on 4:30:57, beating Kazakhstan’s Nurmamet Akbayan who closely finished on 4:30:58 and the pair will be up for a crunch finale as the second heat winner Laxita Vinod Sandilea of India finished away on 4:32:68.
The 2000m steeplechase is a straight final and she is Uganda’s top gold medal hope, having won all the past international meets in the schools category.
Maurine Chebet and Priscilla Akello are Uganda’s other silverware hopefuls as the pair will line up for the 800m final, whose heats they won easily on Monday but with Chebet having run the fastest of the two laps 2:09:88 while Akello made 2:14:85.
Raymond Okello adds to Uganda’s medal hopes as the hits the track to hunt for his first ever international podium finish.
Okello was in fine form in the heats on Monday and he splashed a gold winning finish, coming home on 1:54:97 comfortably beating Mouloud Seifedinne of Brazil and Kazakhstan’s Nikita Petyakhin and the pair will be his rival tomorrow.
The Uganda badminton team will be playing in the semis, but basketball and table tennis exited at group stages, save for the girls basketball 3*3 that were eliminated at the quarter final stage.
Kirabo geared up
Uganda’s most success swimmer Kirabo Namutebi is geared up for her maiden podium finish when she dives in the pool tomorrow morning at the Caen complex.
Kirabo, whose performances have been a progressive outcome by day, will compete amongst the world’s best of her age group in her favourite 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke today.
The Uganda’s sensation took part in the 100m freestyle and the 50m butterfly events on Tuesday but not her specialty.
“I have done these two events which in my opinion are not my specialty and it didn’t go well, but its all well because I have seen what I have to work on in the coming days before my events on Thursday. I am looking forward to beating the national record which I currently hold and hopefully win a medal for Uganda,” Kirabo said.
Kirabo broke the national record in the Women’s 50m freestyle during her Olympics debut at the Tokyo 2020 edition after coming home on 26.63 to beat the previous 26.90 she set at the 2019 FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest.
Her counterparts at the games Esther Daisy Atto, Swagiah Mubiru and Princes Mugisha will give a supportive performance as they compete in different other categories.
The boy swimmers Ampaire Namanya, John Kafumbe Jordan Ssetumba and Joshua Wabwire posted personal best records in their categories on Tuesday but couldn’t make it to the finals of the 100m relay as they came 7th on 4:02:23 in a race won by Turkey.