Ugandans in a puzzle

By Norman Katende in Moscow, Russia

If there is anything that will give the Ugandan technical team of Dominic Otuchet and Benjamin Longiros a hard time, it is finding a solution that will help Ugandan runners adjust to the time zones in Moscow.

As of yesterday, some of the Ugandan runners, a majority of whom have never travelled to Russia, are still locked in a psychological battle of adjusting to the fact that they need to rest by ‘day time’ and not when ‘darkness falls’ during the IAAF World Athletics Championships here.

Unlike in Uganda where darkness starts falling at around 7pm and morning breaks at around 6.30pm, in Moscow, its unfamiliar as it only gets dark after 10pm.

To the Ugandan athletes such Ronald Musagala, they have had to be reminded of when to go to bed and when to wake up.

“That is what we have to do to them,” said coach Benjamin Longiros.

In a related development, Athletes found guilty of doping will be given a four-year ban from 2015, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has announced.

The length of bans was cut from four to two years in 1997 to bring it in line with other international sports bodies.