Travel hitch shadows sprinter Leni’s plan for Huelva

Shida Leni was happy to post 52.62 seconds for a second straight time after she took fourth place at the World Continental Tour Bronze meeting in Chania, Greece on Sunday.

Whereas she has realized small consistent steps of progress in her four races across Europe over the last three weeks, Leni wants more. 

Her goal is to beat the qualifying mark of 51.35 seconds and qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games due next month in Japan. 

“I know I haven’t run anything close to 51 seconds yet but, I am grateful to compete against strong athletes who got better personal bests than mine,” Leni said early this week. And with the June 29 deadline to the Olympics around the corner, the pressure in her spikes is intensifying.

But, the 26-year-old will still need a cool head when she steps onto the track at the Meeting Iberoamericano in Huelva, Spain tonight. 

“I know it soon or later, I will reach there though the days are running fast,” she said. “Anyway, I still got good races coming up.”

“The plan is for Shida to keep improving and hopefully make a big breakthrough time wise,” said her manager Jeffrey Freeman. “She raced well in Crete (Greece), hoping to build on that tomorrow (today).” 

But Leni’s plan at the Iberoamericano Stadium is clouded by a strenuous travel itinerary that had four flights within yesterday to reach Huelva.

“There was an issue with her original flight yesterday (Tuesday). Hopefully, she will rest well tonight (last evening),” added Freeman. 

There is no Ugandan that has raced over the sprints at the Olympics since Justine Bayigga did 400m Heats at the Beijing 2008 Games.

LENI OVER 400M IN 2021
Mar 27: 1st, 52.7h (Namboole, Uganda)
Apr 11: 4th, 52.77 (Lusaka, Zambia)
Apr 24: 1st, 52.17 (Namboole, Uganda)
May 15: 1st, 53.01 (Wien, Austria)
May 19: 2nd, 53.60 (Pescaia, Italy)
May 22: 4th, 52.62 (Andújar, Spain)
May 30: 2nd, 52.62 (Chania, Greece)

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