Youthful Thomas Ayeko on Wednesday punched his ticket for next month’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro by winning the 10,000m finals at the National Championships in Namboole.
There’s a lot of hype behind him and his potential to earn a medal in the event. Ayeko who has always been in the shadows of Uganda’s most decorated runner Moses Kipsiro capitalised on his absence at the event to clock 27 minutes and 57.3 seconds, becoming the first Ugandan to qualify for a major championship on home soil in three years.
He is in tremendous form and had also already qualified for Rio over the marathon having clocked 2:12:07 while finishing fourth on his debut 42km race at the Slved Marathon in Spain last October. “I was home but wasn’t sure whether I would be on the list to Rio or not,” Ayeko said, “So I decided to come and try and qualify. I will also try and qualify in the 5,000m tomorrow (today),” he told Daily Monitor.
Before Spain, Ayeko had ran a personal best in October for the full marathon with 2:12:17 in Rennes, France and another victory can be on the cards in Brazil.
