Uganda’s stars in Australia

Mar 24, 2006

UGANDA’S Dorcus Inzikuru has again won a gold medal! Inzikuru ran very fast. She defeated other athletes in the 3,000 meters steeplechase at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

By Raphael Okello and Louis Jadwong,
in Melbourne, Australia

UGANDA’S Dorcus Inzikuru has again won a gold medal! Inzikuru ran very fast. She defeated other athletes in the 3,000 meters steeplechase at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

After crossing the finishing line, Inzikuru happily raised her arms in the air. She then fell to her knees and briefly prayed to God. She got up and run round the stadium while waving the Uganda flag.

It is not the first time Inzikuru is winning gold. Remember the gold medal she won in Helsinki during the world championships in 2005? Again it was in a similar race — the women’s 3,000 meters steeplechase.

During the World Championships, Inzikuru won in nine minutes 15.04 seconds. This time she has won in nine minutes 19.51 seconds.

Commonwealth games are an international competition like the Olympic Games. But unlike the Olympics where every country can send players to participate, the Commonwealth Games are strictly for countries which were once colonised (ruled) by Great Britain.

Since Uganda was once ruled by Britain, we always participate. We took 49 athletes to participate in different sports like swimming, table tennis, boxing, shooting, weight lifting, cycling and even rugby. So far, Inzikuru is the only one who has won a medal. To win a medal, the person must be among the top three in any of the activities. The first person wins a gold medal, the second wins a silver medal and the third wins a bronze medal.

Uganda’s Asha Nambozo and Amina Kibone are among the youngest players at the games. Nambozo is 13 years old and Kibone is 14 years. Both girls, who live and study in Mbale district, will compete against some of the best players in table tennis. But the talented girls are not scared. In school and during holidays, they always work hard to be better players. During holidays, their coach, Jude Mutete, trains them and at school they do it by themselves.

“I practice every day after class, between 5:00pm and 7:00pm,” says Kibone, a Senior 1 student at Nabumali High School. Nambozo says she also practices in the evenings after class. She studies in S.2 at Mbale SS.

The girls are having the best time of their lives. It was the first time they flew in a plane. “I didn’t fear the way others do. I enjoyed flying,” said Nambozo. In Melbourne, the girls found the opening day very colourful. “It was very exciting. I loved it,” says Kibone.

Nambozo says she eats rice, matooke and meat so as to be able to play well. To be a good a sports person, you have to practice and eat well.

Kibone advises all children to pick interest in sports because if you excel, you can become very rich and famous in future.

The youngest participant in the whole competition is 12-year-old Yoshua Shing from Vanuata. Vanuata is an island found in the Pacific Ocean. He also plays table tennis.

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