End Of An Era

By James BakamaUGANDA’S greatest 400 meter runner Davis Kamoga will run no more.The 1996 Olympic 400m bronze medalist, yesterday announced his retirement, saying injuries have made it impossible to have any more track ambitions.“There comes a time when you have to let go,” revealed the quarter miler, who has been struggling with injuries for two seasons.Kamoga, 31, who last competed at the Sydney Olympics, has since early this year been eyeing a comeback at the Manchester Commonwealth Games. He had also thought of moving up to the 800m.“I realised it would be too strenuous an effort,” said Kamoga, who shocked the world at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by becoming only the second Ugandan to win an Olympic track medal.Kamoga’s feat came 24 years after John Akii-Bua won Uganda’s first athletics medal—a 400m hurdles gold in Munich.Kamoga went on to prove in 1997 that his bronze was no fluke by winning silver at the Athens World Championships. On both occasions Kamoga was beaten by Michael Johnson.The decision marks the end of a short career that took a meteoric rise in 1995 when Kamoga shattered Amos Omollo’s 27-year national record.He started off as a footballer and almost missed his talent. He discovered he could run very fast at 22 years by accident at a national trial.He improved the record seven times to 44.37. Kamoga then vowed to break Innocent Ebunike’s Africa mark, a goal he has failed to achieve.Ends