Nakaayi aims to make amends
Ugandan athlete Halimah Nakaayi. PHOTO/FILE
Kampala- World 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi did not get the desired indoor athletics bow with a distant sixth-place finish at the Metz Indoor Meeting in France on Sunday. And not that she felt any pressure. “I am still getting experience for indoor,” said the 25-year-old after a race which was won by her partner Winnie Nanyondo with an improved national record (NR) time of 2:01.70.
Ugandan Nakaayi will hope things do get better when she runs for the second time indoor at the Val de Reuil Meeting in north-western France tonight.
“Definitely,” her manager Jurrie van der Velden said of expectations of improvement from the middle-distance runner.
“Metz was her first indoor race ever and she got a little excited seeing the 200-metre track and pushed a bit too hard the first lap which caused her to finish the battery early in the race,” explained Jurrie.
In Metz, Nakaayi posted 2:03.27. “She will run this time less aggressively and I expect that this will give a better result and time,” said her coach Addy Ruiter.
Nakaayi is one of the big names entered at Val de Reuil as well as Bahamian high jumper Donald Thomas, Ethiopians Mohammed Aman in 800m and Selemon Barega in 1500m and Senegalese Louis-François Mendy in 110m hurdles.
