Inzikuru eyes Olympics gold

By James Bakama WORLD junior 5,000-meter champion Dorcas Inzikuru has promised Uganda a medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. "I want to be the first Ugandan woman to win an Olympic medal," vowed the teenager, whose World Junior Athletics Championship gold medal recently earned her the Uganda Sports Press Association (USPA) personality of the year award. Inzikuru, a senior four Mvara Secondary School student, will be crowned by USPA on Sunday at Hotel Equatoria's Viper Room. The sports scribes body will also pay special recognition to outstanding performers in 18 disciplines and exceptional monthly sportsmen. Inzikuru, 19, told The New Vision in an exclusive interview that she is not shaken by the revered Ethiopians, Kenyans and East Europeans. "I can take them on any time." Inzikuru, who outpaced a strong field to strike gold in Santiago, Chile, became the second Ugandan to win a gold at a major world meet. Catherine Webombesa was the first Ugandan woman to grab a world gold. This was in the 3,000m at the First World Youth Games in Moscow in 1998. The feat also earned the Bombo SS student the top USPA award. Inzikuru's feat followed a similar mark by Julius Acon in the 1,500m at the 1994 World Junior Athletics Championship in Lisbon Portugal. Francis Ogola had in the previous edition won a bronze in Seoul. The medals also gave Ogola and Acon the top USPA award, besides academic cum sports scholarships in the US. An Olympic medal will have Inzikuru treading where only John Akii-Bua (RIP) and Davis Kamoga have reached. Akii-Bua shook the world by winning a gold in the 400m hurdles at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Uganda was again represented at the Olympic medal podium 25 years later when Davis Kamoga won a bronze at the Atlanta games. Boxers Leo Rwabwogo, Eridad Mukwanga and John "The Beast" Mugabi are the only other Ugandan sportsmen, who have won Olympic medals. Ends.