The Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) has announced a team for the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championship, set to take place in Lima, Peru, from August 27-31.
Dominic Otuchet, President of the UAF, named 10 athletes who will represent the country at the Championship.
“The coaches have assessed the athletes who have been training for some time and have come up with a strong team of 10. We would have liked to take more athletes, but we also have to consider our financial position,” Otuchet told Xinhua on Tuesday.
The Championship will feature several Olympians who recently competed in the Paris 2024 Games. These include Bradley Nkoana and Bayanda Walaza, who helped South Africa to a silver medal in the men’s 4x100m relay, and Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew, who finished fifth in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase.
More than 1,700 athletes from 134 teams will compete at the Estadio Atletico de la Videna.
“We are determined to see the team perform better than the last time we participated in the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championship held in Colombia,” Otuchet explained. In the 2022 Championship, Uganda finished 34th, with Prisca Chesang winning a bronze medal in the 5,000m final.
Uganda’s team will face stiff competition from athletes who participated in the recent Paris Olympics, such as Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa (5,000m) and Jamaica’s Kerrica Hill (100m hurdles), both of whom won gold at the last edition of the World U20 Championships in Cali in 2022 and are entered to defend their titles.
The following are Uganda’s team members:
Jacob Sande (1,500m), Samuel Simba Cherop (1,500m & 5,000m), Titus Musua (3,000m), Herbert Kibet (3,000m), Kenneth Kiprop (5,000m), Hosea Chemutai, (3,000 Steeplechase), Kezia Chebet (3,000m), Charity Cherop (5,000m), Nancy Chepkwurui, Loice Chekwemoi (3,000m Steeplechase), Joshua Kibet (Coach). ■
