Thursday ISF games athletics finals

800m-girls-Maurine Chebet and Priscilla Akello

800m Boys-Raymond Omara

2000m-girls-Loice Chekwemoi

2000 steeplechase-Abel Chebet

Uganda will today compete in 4 of the 9 finals in different athletics events all of which are gold medal prospects on the second last day of athletics in the ongoing International Schools Sports Federation (ISF) games in Caen City of Normandy region in France.

And as Ugandans hit the track to compete for honours in this highly competitive outing, all eyes are on Loice Chekwemoi, who will be competing in the 2000m finals and later in the 1500m finals on Friday at the Caen athletics grounds.

Chekwemoi won her heat in the 1500m qualifying round in style on Tuesday, after coming home at 4:30:57, beating Kazakhstan’s Nurmamet Akbayan who closely finished at 4:30:58 and the pair will be up for a crunch finale as the second heat winner Laxita Vinod Sandilea of India finished away on 4:32:68.

Loice Chekwemoi (front) competing in the 1500m heats on Tuesday. Photos by Aloysius Byamukama

The 2000m steeplechase is a straight final and she is Uganda’s top gold medal hope, having won all the past international meets in the school's category.

Maurine Chebet and Priscilla Akello are Uganda’s other silverware hopefuls as the pair will line up for the 800m final, whose heats they won easily on Monday but with Chebet having run the fastest of the two laps 2:09:88 while Akello made 2:14:85.

Raymond Okello adds to Uganda’s medal hopes as the hits the track to hunt for his first-ever international podium finish.

Okello was in fine form in the heats on Monday and he splashed a gold-winning finish, coming home on 1:54:97 comfortably beating Mouloud Seifedinne of Brazil and Kazakhstan’s Nikita Petyakhin and the pair will be his rival today.

Uganda will also take part in the medley relays in both the boys and girls categories and sprinters Christine Nyawere and Rajab Ibrahim will lead the girls and boys teams respectively.