Ugandan female sprinter Shida Leni is raring to make her debut at the Olympics when she competes at the women’s 400m round 1 at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. 

Leni qualified for the games through World Athletics ranking following her impressive outing in Italy and Switzerland where she ran under 52 seconds.

Her major goal is to lower the national record at the Tokyo Olympics she currently owns at 51:47 – also her personal best. She achieved the milestone at the 2019 UAF  National Track and Field Championships. 

Speaking to MTN Sports, Shida said she’s “feeling good” ahead of the race. She will have to make the first 3 in the heat or finish among the next 6 fastest overall to advance to the Semifinals.

35-year old American Felix Allyson is the favourite after qualifying for these Olympics, her fifth and final games. She will compete as a mother, after earning 2nd place at the US Olympic Trials in 50.02.

“It has been a fight to get here, and one thing I know how to do is to fight,” Felix said. “I just did it all the way home.”

Leni will also have to watch out for Brazilian gold medalist at the 2019 and 2021 South American Championships Marinho Tiffani who has also just featured in the 4 X 400m Relay Mixed.

When to watch Shida Leni make her debut at the Tokyo Olympics;

Women’s 400m Round 1 – Heat 3

Date and Time: Tue 3 Aug. (4:01am EAT)

Venue: Olympic Stadium

Ugandan middle-distance runner Ronald Musagala faces a challenging field in the men’s 1500m round 1 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday. 

The 28-year-old who holds the national record will need to make the first 6 in his heat or be among the next 6 fastest overall advance to the semifinals of the event. 

Musagala brings his 2021 Stockholm Diamond League experience after running 3:33:99, closer to his personal best of 3:30:58 set in 2019 at the Monaco Herculis.

Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, will be the race’s favourite after winning the 1500m/5000m double at the 2018 European Championships at just 17. 

Last year, before his 20th birthday, Jakob broke the European record in the event, clocking 3:28.68 to become the eighth-fastest man of all time.

Another top contender will be Australian Stewart McSweyn. The 26-year-old lowered the Oceania record with his 3:29:51 run in Monaco and finished second at the Doha Diamond League this season. 

Djibouti’s Souleiman Ayanleh enters this race after opting out of round 1 of the men’s 800m heat 6 while Kenyan Simotwo Charles Cheboi, the 2019 African Games bronze medalist also joins the fray.

The other challenge of the race may present in itself in the soaring temperatures of about 37 degrees Celsius, humidity levels also quite high. 

When to watch Ronald Musagala compete at the Tokyo Olympics;

Men’s 1500m Round 1 – Heat 3

Date and Time: Tue 3 Aug. (3:27 am EAT)

Venue: Olympic Stadium

• Ugandans Ronald Musagala and Shida Leni will be action in the wee hours of Tuesday morning in the men’s 1500m and women’s 400m
• The Australian women’s National Basketball team – Opals – have snuck into the women’s basketball quarter-finals after beating Puerto Rico
• Equestrian Fouaad Mirza on Monday finished a creditable 23rd in eventing after he became the first Indian to reach the final
• Nigeria has finally gotten a medal through Blessing Oborodudu in the 68kg event of wrestling

Ugandan runners Ronald Musagala and Shida Leni get their turn to compete as they feature  in the men’s 1500m Round 1 Heats and the women’s 400m Round 1 Heats on Tuesday. Shida will be making her Olympics debut in a bid to better her qualifying time of national record of 51.47 seconds.

The Opals have snuck into the women’s basketball quarter-finals after beating Puerto Rico by just enough to progress.Earlier, Australia’s team pursuit hopes ended after a freak accident and the Matildas were knocked out of gold medal contention in the football. The Opals needed to win by 25 points to qualify for the quarter finals, and just managed it. [ABC News]

Equestrian Fouaad Mirza on Monday finished a creditable 23rd in eventing after he became the first Indian to reach the final of the event on Monday. Mirza and his equine Seigneur Medicott sneaked into the top-25 in the morning to make the jumping finals and become the first Indian to do so. [Times of India]

Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen has won gold in men’s singles badminton, denying a repeat title to the defending Olympic champion, China’s Chen Long, 2-0 in convincing fashion.Axelsen and Chen, two of the world’s most brutal smashers, ended their match 21-15 21-12 after nearly an hour of flash shots and mesmerising rallies. Afterward, Chen embraced and spoke in Chinese with Axelsen, who was still sobbing when he left the court. [India Today]

12 days into the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Team Nigeria has finally gotten a medal through Blessing Oborodudu in the 68kg event of wrestling. Oborodudu on Monday, August 2, 2021 recorded an impressive victory against Battsetseg Soronzonbold in a semi-final clash. The Nigerian got a 7-2 victory against Soronzonbold of Mongolia. [Pulse Ng]

It was teary scenes after Ugandan runners Halimah Nakaayi and Winnie Nanyondo missed out on progressing to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s 800m final on Saturday.

Nakaayi and Nanyondo finished 8th and 5th in 2:04:44 and 1:59:84 respectively and the latter couldn’t hold back her tears as she sobbed her way out of the event.

Images of the scenes were captured by New York Times’ reporter Tariq Panja. To several bookmakers, Nakaayi was an obvious inclusion among the title contenders, ranked 3rd in the world, but her woes left many questions than answers.

According to her coach Addy Ruiter, also Joshua Cheptegei’s coach via Daily Monitor, “Halimah was a big disappointment. She was complaining about pain in her waist that was going down into her left leg.”

Her physiological challenges were a huge factor in her last place finish in semifinal 1.  According to Mayfield Clinic, “shooting pain that begins in the lower back, radiates into the buttock and down the back of one leg,” is often diagnosed as “Sciatica”.

“The pain is often caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve from a herniated disc, bone spurs or muscle strain,” further reads the article on their website.

The result meant Nakaayi’s final show at the Tokyo games while Nanyondo continued her pursuit for glory in the women’s 1500m. Fortunately, she managed to secure a spot in the semifinals slated for Wednesday. 

Winnie Nanyondo put the 800m heartbreak two days ago behind her to secure a berth in the semifinals of the Women’s 1500m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Nanyondo came second in Heat 3 on Monday morning, clocking 4:02:24 behind 2016 Gold medalist Faith Kipyegon of Kenya who was the fastest across the three heats, posting a time of 4:01:40.

In the same heat, Japan’s Tanaka Zonomi who finished fourth also qualified for the semifinals, setting a new national record of 4:02:33. Finland’s Kuivisto Sara who raced in Heat 1 also set a new national record posting a time of 4:04:12.

The biggest highlight, however, was witnessed in Heat 2 when Hassan Sifan of the Netherlands recovered after falling in the final lap to come first.

The semifinals are slated for Wednesday.

• Chemutai progressed to the final of the women’s 3000m Steeplechase after finishing 2nd in heat 1
• Gymnasts have called for call for one touch warm-ups at Tokyo Olympics 
• French boxer stages sit-in protest and makes bizarre ‘sabotage’ claim after disqualification
• taly’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs was crowned the world’s fastest man 
• Team USA to face Spain in men’s basketball quarterfinals at Tokyo Olympics

Ugandan female middle-distance runner Peruth Chemutai has progressed to the final of the women’s 3000m Steeplechase at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Chemutai crossed the finish line second in heat 1, clocking a season best time of 9:12.72 while Bahrain’s Yavi Winfred Mutile emerged winner in 9:10:80 at the Olympic Stadium.

Gymnasts are not allowed to warm up on the equipment they will use during competition in event finals. (They are allowed to warm up during qualifying rounds, team finals and the individual all-around final.) They work out in the practice gym, then wait for some 30 minutes before taking the floor. “I think that rule is so dumb,” said Suni Lee, who won gold in the all-around final, silver in the team final and, on Sunday, bronze in the uneven bar final. “It’s so dangerous.” Her coach, Jess Graba, agreed. “You could really get hurt doing this,” he said. “The routines are too difficult. The skills are too high-level.” He added that he would have felt that way even if Lee had won gold. “Every one of those kids fought,” he said. “They only had one fall, but they all struggled. That wasn’t their normal routine.” Each of the medalists on the vault said they would have preferred the 30-second practice time, also known as a one touch warm-up. “If we had a chance to warm up, I think I would have been less anxious and nervous,” bronze medalist Yeo Seo-jeong, of South Korea, said through an interpreter. “We only had one chance at this.” [SI]

French super-heavyweight Mourad Aliev bizarrely claimed he was the victim of “an act of sabotage” as he staged a sit-down protest after being disqualified from his Olympic quarter-final. Aliev was fighting Great Britain’s Frazer Clarke when their tussle was stopped by referee Andrew Mustacchio in the second round at the Kokugikan Arena. He was punished for use of the head but complained that he had not been warned by the referee before the fight was halted. [Sports Max]

Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs was crowned the world’s fastest man as he claimed a shock victory in the men’s 100m at the Tokyo Olympics. Jacobs set a new European record of 9.80 seconds on Sunday, finishing 0.04 seconds ahead of the USA’s Fred Kerley in second and 0.09 seconds ahead of Canada’s Andre De Grasse in third. It capped a glorious few minutes for Italy at the Olympic Stadium with Jacobs’ victory coming shortly after Gianmarco Tamberi’s gold medal in the high jump. [CNN]

The U.S. and Spain played for Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, then faced each other in the semifinals in 2016. And at the Tokyo Games, the top teams in the FIBA world rankings will meet again — just earlier than has been the norm. The three-time reigning Olympic champion Americans will play reigning World Cup champion Spain in the quarterfinals of the men’s tournament at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday, a matchup of teams that finished second in their respective groups at the Olympics. [ESPN]

Ugandan female middle-distance runner Peruth Chemutai has progressed to the final of the women’s 3000m Steeplechase at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.

Chemutai crossed the finish line second in heat 1, clocking a season best time of 9:12.72 while Bahrain’s Yavi Winfred Mutile emerged winner in 9:10:80 at the Olympic Stadium.

The fifth place finisher at the 2019 Doha World Championships led the race and her display attracted praise for her “hurling technique at the water jump.”

She relinquished her position towards the end after re-kindling memories Dorcus Inzikuru at the 2005 Helsinki World Championships when the latter ended Uganda’s 33-year wait for an athletics world title.

In the final, Chemutai will have to upstage Beatrice Chepkoech from Kenya, the 2019 world champion who broke the world record in 2018 with 8:44.32 in Monaco.

Also contending will be another Kenyan and favourite Hyvin Kiyeng, the 2015 world champion and a silver medallist in Rio five years ago, as well as American Courtney Frerichs.

When to watch Peruth Chemutai race again at the Tokyo Olympics;

Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Final

Date and Time: Wed 4 Aug. (2:00pm EAT)

Venue: Olympic Stadium

Apart from the joy of Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo’s silver and bronze for Uganda in the Tokyo Olympics 10,000m final, it’s been a tough outing elsewhere. 

Halimah Nakaayi and Winnie Nanyondo failed to progress to the 800m final after finishing 8th and 5th in 2:04:44 and 1:59:84 respectively on Saturday.

Nakaayi also 2019 Doha World champion was primed to make the final but unfortunately struggled in the last lap in semifinal 1, Jamaican Goule Natoya and Brit Reekie Jemma progressing. 

Nanyondo equally drew so close to making it for the final but stumbled in the final bend, only setting a season best 1:59:84 in fifth position, also missing out on a finals slot. 

The Ugandan duo were supposed to make the first 2 in their respective semifinals or finish among the next 2 fastest overall to advance to the final. 

On Friday, Prisca Chesang, Chelangat Sarah and Chebet Esther failed to make it to the women’s 5000m final after finishing 15th (15:25:72), 19th (15:59:40) in heat 1 and 12th (15:11:47 SB) in heat 2 respectively. 

The trio were debuting in the competition and needed to finish among first 5 in their respective heats or be among the next 5 fastest overall advance.

Ugandan swimmer Kirabo Namutebi was 1:27 behind 19-year-old Ecuadorian winner Delgado Anicka in the women’s 50m freestyle with 26:63, missing progression to the final.

She was 7th in heat 6 and 47th out of 81 swimmers. The best 16 athletes set up semifinals before Australian McKeon Emma won Gold while Sjoestroem Sarah took silver on Sunday.

Ugandan runner Stephen Kissa has explained why he took an early lead before pre-maturely exiting the Tokyo Olympics 10,000m final on Friday. 

Kissa created a 10 second gap between him and the leading pack as he dragged on till the 16th lap when he lost the lead to Kenyan Conseslus Kipruto.

He eventually dropped quickly to the back of the runners before exiting in what looked like a pacemakers job for the day. 

When interviewed about the DNF against his name, Kissa who has been hailed for his “heroics” back home in Uganda said it had been a “sacrifice” for Joshua and Jacob to win. 

“It was a sacrifice for the team. We had a plan for me to go ahead to make it a fast race,” he told media in Tokyo after the race.

“We [Uganda] were planning for the gold but unfortunately we have a silver and bronze. But I’m happy. We have two medals.”

Ethiopian Selemon Barega won the race in 27:43:22, Cheptegei and Kiplimo finishing 2nd – 3rd in 27:43:63 and 27:43:88 respectively. 

When to watch Kiplimo and Cheptegei compete again at the Tokyo Olympics; 

Men’s 5000m Round 1 – Heat 1-2

Date and Time: Tue 3 Aug. (2:00pm – 2:20pm EAT)

Venue: Olympic Stadium

After winning silver in the 10000m at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, Joshua Cheptegei is not resting on his laurels.

The 24-year-old has quickly switched focus and is now eyeing the 5000m title which he is dreaming of.

Cheptegei, through his social media, said he is delighted with his performance in the 10000m and grateful for the support he recieved.

“I’m very grateful for today’s silver medal at the Olympic Games 10,000m. I want to thank everyone for supporting me all the way!!,” he said in a tweet.

The 5000m world record holder adds that he is dreaming of the Olympic title over the distance.

“I’m still dreaming for the Olympic title! See you soon for the 5000m on Tuesday!”

I’m very grateful for today’s silver medal at the Olympic Games 10,000m. I want to thank everyone for supporting me all the way!! 🙏🇺🇬

I’m still dreaming for the Olympic title! See you soon for the 5000m on Tuesday! 👊#Athletics #Tokyo2020
📸 @WorldAthletics pic.twitter.com/e417mMVmW4

— Joshua Cheptegei 🇺🇬🇺🇬 🥇🥇 (@joshuacheptege1) July 30, 2021

The Men’s 5000m heats will be run on Tuesday, 3rd August starting at 2:00pm (East African Time) with the finals set for Friday, 6th August at 3:00pm.