London 2012: Negesa is all pumped up and ready

By James Bakama

All Africa Games 800 meter gold medalist Annet Negesa has been seriously working on her speed work ahead of tomorrow's official opening of the London Olympics.

You would have expected her to have already hit her peak by now but an unexpected slump in form had her times slowing drastically at the Africa Senior Championships early this month.

After setting a new national record of one minute 59.8 seconds in Hengelo in May, Negesa slowed to 2:02.84 at the Africa Senior Championships in Benin the following month.

“There is something she mixed up in her training programme. But we are now trying to work round it,” explained her coach Raphael Kasajja after a workout at Namboole last week.

Back in Uganda as Negesa tried to catch up in an event that has heavyweights like Caster Semenya and Pamela Jelimo, there were strains. She was reported to have strained a muscle.

The determination to soldier on was however evident in the runner, who was on Monday found training with 1kg weights to boost her arm swing and power.

“I have improved from the time I made in the recent Africa Senior championships in Benin and ready to compete with the best in the world. I am done with endurance and now working on speed especially at the finish,” Negesa said at Namboole.

Her opening race in London will be on August 8.

Swimmers Ganzi Mugula and Jamila Lunkuse and badminton player Edwin Ekiring and 800m runner Julius Mutekanga are also in England.