Uganda suffered from sad fortunes in Tuesday’s Athletics first session at the ongoing 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Ronald Musagala’s hunt for a place in the Men’s 1500m semifinal ended agonisingly at the Tokyo Stadium.
Running in heat three, Musagala suffered what looked like an hamstring injury on the last round of qualifying and needed a wheelchair to be taken off the track.
He needed to come among the top six in his heat or at least finish as one of the next six fastest in all the heats to advance to the Semifinals.
Morocco’s El bakkali soufiane who earlier won the Men’s gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase and Yared Nuguse of United States, did not finish as well in the same heat won by Jake Heyward of Great Britain.
In the Women’s 400m heats, Uganda’s Shida Leni came sixth in a time of 52.48 in her heat won by the iconic Alyson Felix of the United States.
The first 3 in each heat and the next 6 fastest advance to the Semifinals.
Despite missing out on the semis, Leni became Uganda’s first lady Sprinter since Justine Bayigga in 2008 Beijing.
Leni is Uganda’s 400m National women record holder – She posted 51.47 in July 2019 to better the record for the sixth time!
