We expected gold, Nyakato’s mentor says

James Ssenkungu, an athletics coach at Makerere University, has seen Jennifer Nyakato grow from a shy girl with a hearing impairment into a reputable athlete who bagged a silver medal at the 4th World Deaf Championship in Lublin, Poland, on Thursday.
Nyakato, the only Ugandan in the race, ran the 800m final in 2:10.26 minutes, finishing between Russians Emilyevna Abubiakirova, who took gold in 2:08.83sec, and Ekaterina Kudriavtseva.
The result comes after the 2019 feat when Nyakato beat two Ethiopians to win gold at the Africa Deaf Athletics Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.
Nyakato looked in control after outpacing Sharon Bitok, one of the two Kenyans in the race, but eventually surrendered her lead to Abubiakirova.
Ssenkungu did not travel with the 27-year-old to Poland as he is overseeing the duo of David Emong, who won bronze in the 1500m T46 event at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in Japan, and Peace Oroma, who is in action tomorrow.
“We expected her to win gold, because she really has the potential and her preparations have been good, but we are also happy for silver,” he said.
Silver is a big consolation after Nyakato’s fourth-place finish in the 1500m in 4:47.89 and Ssenkungu lauded coach Faustino Kiwa, who has worked with her, especially in the build-up to the event.
“Jennifer has been training with the Paralympics team at Makerere and Coach Kiwa has done a great job to put her in shape,” said Ssenkungu, who understudies Kiwa at most national events.

Deaf championships
800m RESULTS
1.E. Abubiakirova    RUS    2:08.83
2.Jennifer Nyakato    UGA    2:10.26
3.E. Kudriavtseva    RUS    2:12.44
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