Leni makes Gold Coast mark
REIGNING CHAMPION. Shida Leni runs to victory on recently at Namboole. As a teenager, Leni was an accomplished netballer but this changed when she discovered she was even great at running. PHOTO BY GEORGE KATONGOLE
KAMPALA.
Shida Leni has made it. The 23-year-old 400m athlete will compete at her second Commonwealth Games but she’s making a return with eyes set on her maiden Games medal.
Leni, who was a semifinalist in the 2014 Games in Glasgow, clocked 52.87 on Saturday at Namboole to earn her place the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. Scovia Ayikoru made a personal best in 54.16 but was still short of the 53.00 qualifying mark.
“I am relieved that I have qualified for the games and now training starts to improve my speed and better the personal best of 52.51 that I made in Congo Brazzaville,” Leni told Daily Monitor after the race.
She added that she will run in the 200-metres race in the final qualifying round on 3rd March as she works on her speed.
“These games have come very early in the season because most of us are yet to hit our peak but we must do everything possible to be the best we can,” she added.
The time trials started on a low note after athletes training in Kapchorwa failed to make it for lack of transport. This greatly affected the middle and long distance races that were short of any competition.
The 10,000-metre race saw Gonzaga Ssebuuma and Brian Ategeka dominate the field, overtaking even the third-placed Robert Mugarra but they were not anywhere near to the required standards.
Ali Ngaimoko again won the 400m race but missed the qualifying mark by a mere 7ms as Denis Opio, who is making a comeback retired near the home stretch.
Winnie Nanyondo ran a carefully planned race to win the 1500m race which Janet Achola led from start when she opted to go all out but lost steam with about 100m to go.
Youngsters impress
But there was hope elsewhere as Daniel Kiprop and Steven Chebet made the mark for the World Junior Athletics championships to be held in the Finnish city of Tampere. The games will be held between July 10-15.
The duo from Serere emerged third and fourth respectively in the 1500m race.
Their coach Godfrey Opio was thrilled.
“Qualifying for the championships so early allows you enough time for training,” Opio said.
Also, twins Jaimie and Eugene Omalla, shocked sprint coaches with an impressive race on their debut.
Jaimie ran an impressive 11.12 while Eugene clocked 11.10. According to their dad, Tim Omalla, they opted to run in Uganda on Thursday after the Kenyan meet scheduled for Saturday was called off. They train with a Kenyan coach Jeff Onyango.
Former sprint queen Mildred Gamba applauded the talent.
“Only a few things need to be worked on but they are a great potential for the country,” Gamba noted.
According to their father, they opted to run for Uganda instead of Netherlands, the country of their mother Wilma.
