Africa-Press – Uganda. By virtue of the way he carries himself and not forgetting his mohawk hair, Tarsis Orogot oozes style and confidence.
Sprints barely shape the conversation of Uganda’s athletics today but Orogot is confident that he can change that.
Sensing there was a lack of facilities and a durable atmosphere for shorter distance running back home, Orogot shifted to Kenya’s capital three years ago.
The results have manifested this year as he took the 100m national record away from Pius Adome to now 10.35 seconds.
At the World Athletics U20 Championships which enter Day Three today, Adome is eyeing a rare sprints medal for the country over the 200m.
Narrow miss
He had initially opted to pull out of the 100m quest on Wednesday but on agreeing to compete, he narrowly missed a place in yesterday’s final by a slot after posting 10.37 seconds in third place via lane 4 of semi-final Heat 3.
“Now we change the focus and prepare for the 200m,” said Orogot. “I have seen competition here. I know it’s not as easy as I thought because with 10.37, you don’t make it to the final.”
“In the 200m, I have to bring it all out and I will not disappoint,” he added. For proper context, Orogot is the first Ugandan sprinter at this championship in 17 years.
He is the ninth sprinter overall from Uganda to compete at this stage and by doing the 200m event, Orogot will become the fourth man to double in sprints at these championships after Henry Sebbale and Joel Otim-Bua (both Ontario 1988) in Canada as well as Robert Mugagga at Annecy 1998 edition in France.
The 200m event is his favourite race and with the absence of sprint powerhouse USA, his time of 20.71 posted at Namboole on April 24 ranks him seventh overall in the junior field.
And with the event happening at Karasani, where he is a regular, Orogot is hoping that can play a card for him too. “There are no nerves at all. This is where I have been competing. I pray that everything turns out better.”
Big dreams
The 18-year-old dreams of emulating sprint greats John Akii-Bua and Davis Kamoga, both of whom have Olympic medals but to step onto the podium at Kasarani, he will need to go past the semi-final Heats this afternoon and then deliver in tomorrow evening’s final.
However, the way Orogot gets out of the blocks is key. “The 200m is very different from the 100m. My start really let me down in the 100m but 200m, I know everything will be okay,” he added.
Winning a medal will require Orogot to run his best race ever. Of Uganda’s 13 medals at this championship, only one is from sprints: Francis Ogola’s 400m bronze at the Seoul 1992 edition in South Korea.
