Early test for Musagala, Kibet in Djibouti
Home run. Ugandan Ronald Musagala dips in at the finish line to win the men’s 1500m race at the Paris Diamond League Meet recently. IAAF PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Now, ahead of a really busy season, Musagala is looking to click a little more when he competes over the 3000m race at the Djibouti Grand Prix today.
Middle-distance runner Ronald Musagala lost his shape when he sat out six months to nurse a hamstring problem he suffered during the Tokyo Olympics.
He trained for a few weeks before finishing second over the 800m at the first National Trials at Namboole on March 5.
Now, ahead of a really busy season, Musagala is looking to click a little more when he competes over the 3000m race at the Djibouti Grand Prix today.
The 2018 Africa 1500m bronze medallist is still largely in recovery mode.
“Ronald is improving slowly, needs two more months to be at a very high level again,” his coach Addy Ruiter said.
Best-ever ranking
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Musagala was ranked world number three over the 1500m in 2019 behind Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot and Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen but a lack of activity before 2021 and then an injury cast down his progress further. Now his management Global Sports Communication is making some changes for the 29-year-old.
“He is training to transition from 1500m to 5000m so a 3000m is the perfect distance for him at this moment,” his manager Jurrie van der Velden explained the decision.
Musagala travelled in company of coach Denis Okudach and his training partners Tom Dradriga who will compete over the 800m while Farid Wabutwa will compete in the 1500m.
Dradriga beat Musagala in Namboole over the two laps in a time of 1:46.58 to qualify for the Africa Senior Championships. Wabutwa must run under 3:39.00 to qualify for the Mauritius do.
Then, budding star Dan Kibet will compete over the 5000m with a target of lowering his personal best of 13:46.06 to beat the qualifying mark of 13:13.50 to the Oregon World Championships.
The 18-year-old from Joshua Cheptegei Development Foundation (Jocdef) club in Kapchorwa qualified for the World U20 Championships set for Cali, Colombia in August.
Djibouti grand Prix
Ugandans in action March 25
Tom Dradriga (800m), Farid Wabutwa
(1500m), Ronald Musagala (3000m), Dan
Kibet (5000m)
