Africa-Press – Uganda. It maybe close to the middle of a 42-day full lockdown but sprinter Shida Leni could have spent the weekend as the country’s happiest elite runner. This, after Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) and Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) broke the news to her that she will be at the Tokyo Olympics which get underway in Japan on July 23.
“I am happy,” she said, moments after pouring out her feeling of delight via her Facebook page. Leni didn’t beat the Olympic qualifying mark of 51.35 seconds over the 400m distance but she qualified by virtue of her global ranking over the lap distance by World Athletics.
“Though for the last days, I so worried,” she said.
Why? “Time was going and secondly the events like the National Championship which could have brought more points to me are not there because of Covid-19, and the rest of the world was having their Nationals so it was really tight to me. Until when Beatrice (Ayikoru) confirmed my place.”
How she made it
Leni had to wait for confirmation for about a fortnight. She had cut her stay in Europe short to return home for the first jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine on June 21.
She will be the only sprinter in the 26-man contingent to Tokyo and also, the first Ugandan to compete over the sprints at the Olympics since Justine Bayigga at the Beijing Games in 2008.“My dream has always been to be an Olympian as a sprinter from Uganda that was always a difficult dream to accomplish,” she said, in part of her post on Friday.
According to World Athletics, she is currently ranked 46th with a score of 1198 points. At some stage, she was ranked 24th globally. “Athletes score points based on a combination of result and place depending on the level of the competition in which the result is achieved,” World Athletics describes the ranking format.
“The ranking is then based on their average score over a certain number of competitions in a defined period of time.”There are 12 other runners who qualified for the women’s 400m via global ranking.
Leni’s ranking however improved thanks to her circuit abroad between May and June where she competed in seven races across five European countries, most of which were on the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze circuit.
“It helped me a lot in terms getting experience, and learning new things from other runners. They (UOC and UAF) told me my ranking heard improved greatly.Leni dipped in to get a ticket to Tokyo thanks to her times of 51.81 seconds when she came fifth at the Atletica Geneva Meeting in Switzerland on June 12. She also won the race at the Meeting Internazionale Città di Nembro, Italy, with 51.89 on June 17.
“I know was said was that if I remained in Uganda by then, I couldn’t make it (to Tokyo) because my ranking was going to go down. And reaching Europe, it was a tough start and eventually I started peaking late. That’s why my body started running those 51-second times,” she added.
Home and handicapped
Leni is currently in Kampala but while she must improve ahead of the Heats on August 3, semifinals on August 4 and the final two days later in Tokyo, she can’t have access to a tartan track because Namboole stadium is gazetted as a Covid-19 treatment centre.
“At moment things are hard as I train at Kyambogo cricket oval,” said Leni. “But I have been doing exercises and hill work. I pray I am in the first group to Tokyo so that I train from there,” she added. UOC general secretary Beatrice Ayikoru says Leni should not worry.
“She is on the next batch to Tokyo on July 13,” said Ayikoru, who is also a member of the World Athletics Council. The Tokyo Games will be Leni’s 12th major championship since the 2014 Commonwealth Games and it will be her biggest stage yet. She boasts of a silver medal from the 2019 World University Games.
Leni over 400m in 2021
Mar 27: 1st 52.7sec UgandaApr 11: 4th 52.77 ZambiaApr 24: 1st 52.17 UgandaMay 15: 1st 53.01 AustriaMay 19: 2nd 53.60 ItalyMay 22: 4th 52.62 SpainMay 30: 2nd 52.62 GreeceJun 3: 5th 52.69 Spain)Jun 12: 5th 51.81 SwitzerlandJun 17: 1st 51.89 Italy
