Musagala qualifies for IAAF World Championships

Ronald Musagala is a man usually driven by sheer tenacity!

His efforts paid off last week when he raced to a slot onto Uganda's team to the IAAF World Athletes Championships. Musagala's time of 3:35.38 over 1500m got him inside the qualifying mark of 3:36.00 for the London competition.

Musagala's qualification in Marseille, France, appears to have given him the impetus to go for his own national record (3:35.02), which he broke at the FBK Games in the Netherlands on Sunday.

He finished third, behind Alsadik Mikhou (3:31.34) from Bahrain and Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha, with a time of 3:33.65 to break his Ugandan record. Two years earlier, Musagala had rewritten the national record, previously held by Julius Achon, at the FBK Games on May 24, 2015.

"It was a great achievement because he went through a lot of hardships, bearing in mind that he had been involved in two tough races days earlier," noted Musagala's coach Raphael Kasajja.

"Breaking the national record was one of our targets this season and I can tell you he will do it again," said the coach who sounded excited.

Musagala is the 12th Ugandan to qualify for the Worlds which will take place August 5-13 in London.

Araptany in too

Jacob Araptany joined the list of qualifiers for the World Championship during an Ethiopian qualifying event in Addis Ababa.

His time of 8:22.92 in the 3000m steeplechase on Saturday, gave him a ninth place finish and a ticket to London.

Araptany, who took part in the Rio 2016 Olympics, will be hoping to make amends in London after his Olympics dream was shattered when he tripped and fell face-first into a hurdle during the steeplechase final. The fall happened when he was third from the front of the pack.

Araptany's compatriot Abel Sikowu, finished two places behind, but he had already qualified for the event in London.