SH197M CAMP
Apr 03, 2003
UGANDA’S medal winning performance at the World Cross-country Championships has started to bear fruit on another front.<br>
By James Bakama
UGANDA’S medal winning performance at the World Cross-country Championships has started to bear fruit on another front.
Michael Ezra, who is in real estate business and was one of the sponsors of Uganda’s junior silver and bronze winning team, has agreed to inject $100,000 (sh197m) into grooming a world-conquering athletics team.
Ezra, will fully fund a middle and long distance high-altitude training camp for 10 months in Kapchorwa to prepare for the next world cross-country championships, and the 2004 Olympics.
Athletics giants Kenya have dominated long distance events largely because of such camps located in high altitude areas like Eldoret, St. Patrick’s Eten and Nyahurururu.
Ezra, a former sprinter who has interacted with several international runners, said Uganda had so far failed to exploit the fact that the Sabiny can match the Kalenjin since they are brothers.
The camps have, with Kenya’s success in the middle and long distance, attracted funding from International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and giant kit manufacturers like Puma and Fila.
“The Kenyans usually train for 60 days to beat the world. We shall train for 300 days and see who will stop us,†warned Ezra.
“All I want from you are medals,†Ezra told the teenagers, their coach Johnson Kasajja, UAAF interim committee head Timothy Magala, Budo Junior headmaster William Kayongo and 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Davis Kamoga at a consultative meeting at Grand Imperial Hotel on Wednesday.
The ten-month project, that has already got the approval of the sport’s interim governing body UAAF, starts in October.
The camp will have five more talented runners, most probably seniors, joining the bronze medal winning team of James Kibet, Moses Kipsiro, Isaac Kiprop, Martin Kiplimo and Boniface Kiprop.
Ezra, who together with SN Brussels helped the cash-strapped UAAF send a team to the World Cross-country Championships, said he was confident the juniors can reach several Olympic finals if professionally managed.
Top on the Kapchorwa project’s budget is buying of three acres of land where a 400m cinder-track will be constructed, temporary shelter put up for the athletes, coaches, doctor and pastor. Ezra wants the camp secluded to boost the athletes’ concentration.
Legend John Akii-Bua did a lot of such private training with Malcolm Arnold in Kampala prior to winning his historic 400-meter hurdles Olympic gold medal in 1972.
Ezra says he is ready to invest much more money in similar projects if the camp succeeds.
“My expectations are not monetary. That is why I am not making contracts. I simply want to promote Uganda,†Ezra assured the excited athletes.
“We shall not disappoint you,†said Boniface Kiprop, whose individual silver in Lausanne boosted Uganda to a fourth consecutive team bronze.
The ten athletes will be chosen by Kasajja, who has coached Ezra before. Kasajja says he can get up to 30 top runners in Kapchorwa.
The entire team will get allowances and get full kit from Nike. They will continue with their education, with a resident teacher paid for.
“I want stress free athletes,†said Ezra, an avid follower of the sport.
The programme includes air-tickets to several build-up international races. Ends
UGANDA’S medal winning performance at the World Cross-country Championships has started to bear fruit on another front.
Michael Ezra, who is in real estate business and was one of the sponsors of Uganda’s junior silver and bronze winning team, has agreed to inject $100,000 (sh197m) into grooming a world-conquering athletics team.
Ezra, will fully fund a middle and long distance high-altitude training camp for 10 months in Kapchorwa to prepare for the next world cross-country championships, and the 2004 Olympics.
Athletics giants Kenya have dominated long distance events largely because of such camps located in high altitude areas like Eldoret, St. Patrick’s Eten and Nyahurururu.
Ezra, a former sprinter who has interacted with several international runners, said Uganda had so far failed to exploit the fact that the Sabiny can match the Kalenjin since they are brothers.
The camps have, with Kenya’s success in the middle and long distance, attracted funding from International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and giant kit manufacturers like Puma and Fila.
“The Kenyans usually train for 60 days to beat the world. We shall train for 300 days and see who will stop us,†warned Ezra.
“All I want from you are medals,†Ezra told the teenagers, their coach Johnson Kasajja, UAAF interim committee head Timothy Magala, Budo Junior headmaster William Kayongo and 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Davis Kamoga at a consultative meeting at Grand Imperial Hotel on Wednesday.
The ten-month project, that has already got the approval of the sport’s interim governing body UAAF, starts in October.
The camp will have five more talented runners, most probably seniors, joining the bronze medal winning team of James Kibet, Moses Kipsiro, Isaac Kiprop, Martin Kiplimo and Boniface Kiprop.
Ezra, who together with SN Brussels helped the cash-strapped UAAF send a team to the World Cross-country Championships, said he was confident the juniors can reach several Olympic finals if professionally managed.
Top on the Kapchorwa project’s budget is buying of three acres of land where a 400m cinder-track will be constructed, temporary shelter put up for the athletes, coaches, doctor and pastor. Ezra wants the camp secluded to boost the athletes’ concentration.
Legend John Akii-Bua did a lot of such private training with Malcolm Arnold in Kampala prior to winning his historic 400-meter hurdles Olympic gold medal in 1972.
Ezra says he is ready to invest much more money in similar projects if the camp succeeds.
“My expectations are not monetary. That is why I am not making contracts. I simply want to promote Uganda,†Ezra assured the excited athletes.
“We shall not disappoint you,†said Boniface Kiprop, whose individual silver in Lausanne boosted Uganda to a fourth consecutive team bronze.
The ten athletes will be chosen by Kasajja, who has coached Ezra before. Kasajja says he can get up to 30 top runners in Kapchorwa.
The entire team will get allowances and get full kit from Nike. They will continue with their education, with a resident teacher paid for.
“I want stress free athletes,†said Ezra, an avid follower of the sport.
The programme includes air-tickets to several build-up international races. Ends