Rwanda’s middle-distance runner Salome Nyirarukundo will be hoped on for a medal during the Commonwealth Games due in Australia in April
Rwanda’s middle-distance runner Salome Nyirarukundo is shifting her preparations for the 2018 Commonwealth Games to Eldoret, Kenya as she bids stage impressive performances at the global event due in Australia from April 4-15.
The 20-year-old youngster made history after becoming the first Rwandan female athlete to win last year’s women half marathon since the inception of the annual event in 2005.
The APR athletics club athlete has been training intensively since she won a medal at the 28th edition of Silvesterlauf and with a mission of ensuring that she attains her target of staging triumphant performances at the Commonwealth Games, she is set to intensify her preparations in Eldoret, Kenya, conducive home of long distance athletes in the region.
In a separate interview with KT Sports this week, Nyirarukundo said, “I am in a very good state, looking forward to undergoing intensive preparations to ensure that I am ready for the Commonwealth Games due in Australia in April,”
The athlete is set to wind up her fitness training program this week before embarking on a journey to Kenya where she hopes to train with various global athletes who are using Eldoret base as their training stint ahead of the games.
“I need to continue training hard and my target will be to win a medal in commonwealth games and I want qualification for World championship,” she told local media this week.
Last year, Nyirarukundo emerged as the youngster made history after becoming the first Rwandan female athlete to win the Kigali Peace Half Marathon since the inception of the annual event in 2005.
She went on to compete at the 2017 IAAF World Championships held in London in August were she managed a 25th place finish.
Earlier this month, she grabbed a silver medal at the Silvesterlauf- a New Year’s Eve race held in the Southwestern German city of Trier after using a total of 15 minutes and 50 seconds to come behind Germany-born Klosterhalfen Konstanze, 20 who won a Gold medal after clocking 15:33’2’ while Melat Yisak Kejeta from Ethiopia clocked 15: 52’ 4.
Rwanda joined the Commonwealth in November 2009 during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago, becoming the grouping’s 54th member.
The country made her debut in 2010 Commonwealth Games during the 19th edition in Delhi, India, taking part in athletics, boxing, cycling, and swimming.
