Athletes shine at the sixth national trials

Namboole stadium is first becoming a happy hunting ground for Shida Leni. A few weeks ago she became the only athlete to qualify for the Commonwealth games at the stadium.

On Saturday, the 25-year-old broke a decade long 52.48 400m national record set by Justine Bayiga in Sudan on May 28 2008.Although Leni did not smash the record, her time of 52.47 was worth the national record bringing.

She has cut three and a half seconds off her personal best time since 2013. Leni feels there is room for improvement and she will actively look towards improving her times.

"I was very happy for the record it was good for me, but there is still work to be done. I have to lower my time a bit. if I was to lower it to 51 seconds I would be very grateful," the excited Leni said.

Leni's coaches Kevin and Sue O'Connor believe she can definitely improve her time if she continues the way she is doing.

"She is not going to run a world record time, but we are confident and she is confident that she can lower that time," Sue said.

Leni goes to the gym three times a week where she works on her weight. This element has added more strength and power to her speed.

Ajok and Nakaayi

Dorcus Ajok and Halima Nakaayi almost qualified for the Commonwealth games at the Gold coast on Saturday, but were largely let down by their pace.

After finishing the first lap in 57 seconds, the two athletes left themselves with a lot to do so they slowed down greatly and failed to beat the 2:01.50 seconds.

Luckly for Ajok, there is one more opportunity to pull it off this Saturday with the final athletics national trial before the Commonwealth games take place.