Athletics Win FEASSSA Tournament in Arusha.
The East African Secondary School Sport Competition (FEASSSA) kicked off on the eighth day today, in addition to other ongoing games, a tournament in which athletes from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania competed for points and medals. many in the championship.
Until the finals of the day, the Kenyan athletic team is leading the tournament by winning a total of 345 points following its athletes receiving 18 gold, 9 silver and 10 bronze medals and a total of 37 medals.
Second place in the sport was taken by Ugandan athletes who scored 316 points after winning 8 gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals while the Tanzanians ranks third after earning a total of 197 points by getting 2 medals. gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze.
Analysis of the results shows that Kenya’s victory was contributed by its girls’ boys to boys performance in the tournament where its girls team earned 7 gold, 4 silver, and 6 bronze medals, thus gaining 162 points, while the boys athletes the country achieved 11 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals,
In Uganda, the win was based on the achievements of their girls athletes who received 5 gold, 8 silver and 4 bronze medals and a total of 165 points, while the boys received 3 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze medals.
Tanzania on their side took third place with their girls team winning 2 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals and a total of 104 points while the boys from Tanzania received 3 silver and 2 bronze medals.
The winners of the gold medal in Tanzania are Carreen Philipo from Kondoa girls’ secondary school in Dodoma, a fifth-grade student who won the medal at 12.71 meters and defeated Kenya’s Penina Akoth and Kenya’s Alanyo Catherine Uganda who took second and third place.
Another gold medal came from the victory of the Tanzanian girls’ team in the 100 x 4 meter relay where four girls from Tanzania won first place in the Kenyan and Uganda athletes.
Speaking about the tournament Tanzanian athletic trainer Taku Machaku said this year’s competition was tougher than they thought but he praised his young men for the bravery they showed in the tournament despite the fact that most Tanzanian athletes do not come from sports schools compared to athletes from Kenya and Uganda. .
So Machaku has called on sports stakeholders in the country to build more athletic schools in Tanzania so that Tanzania can have a strong team to compete with Kenya and Uganda.
With athlete Matthew Sombi of Tanzania, a 5th grade student from Alliance’s city of Mwanza talent who won 2 silver medals after taking second place in the 10,000 meter and 5,000 meter race said Arusha weather it helped affect him in winning the first place and said he is planning next year to win the tournament.
For his part, Felix Ogwang, a Ugandan sports journalist, has said he has seen a lot of sports talent from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania but in his opinion has found that the biggest hurdle for Tanzanian athletes is to consider sports as something to do after of studies.
He said the situation is different in Uganda as students who participate in the FEASSSA Championship and receive a special certificate from the Uganda Ministry of Education receive 5 marks which are included in the results of joining the country’s higher education which Ogwang has cited as a motivating factor for many young people in the country. in it the most active in sports.
The 39th FEASSSA tournament is expected to be completed on 25 August 2019 at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium in Arusha where a total of six nations from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and Tanzania are participating.
