No medal for Rwanda at Nanjing Olympic Games

It’s official. Rwanda will not win a medal at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games due to climax on Thursday in Nanjing, China after all hopes ended at the weekend.

Runners James Sugira and Venantie Mukandayisenga attempted to make a push for a medal in 1500m finals over the weekend in vain.

After qualifying to the final in third position, Sugira finished a distant eighth position after clocking 3:48.93 in the race which Kenyan Soet Gilbert Kwemoi won in 3:41.99.

Mukandayisenga clocked 4:29.23 in the 1500m women final. Ethiopia’s Kokeb Tesfaye Alemu won the race in 4:15.38.

In beach volleyball, the men’s team comprised of Elias Ndagano and Sylvestre Ndayisabye finished sixth in Group F with five points after losing all the five matches. Overall, they finished 35th out of 36 nations that took part in the second edition of the Youth Games.

Their female counterparts Seraphine Mukantambara and Lea Uwimbabazi finished fifth in Group F with six points after winning one match and losing the other four.  In the general classification, the Rwanda duo finished 28th out of 36 countries.

Swimmer Abdul Rahman Gatete Babu finished last in heat one of the boys’ 50m butterfly heat stages after clocking 34.44 to come 8.92 second behind the winner Ozkul Berk from Turkish.

Female cyclists Clementine Niyonsaba and Benitha Uwamariya finished a distant 44th and 45th on their debut in Laoshan Road Cycling Course in Nanjing.

Niyonsaba clocked 1:22:05 while Uwamariya registered 1:22:07 in a race where 55 riders reached the finsh line, while six abandoned the race.

The New Times 

UM– USEKE.RW