BUJUMBURA August 4th (ABP) – The Olympic Games which have been held since July 23 in Tokyo, Japan, have seen the participation of six Burundian athletes, namely Francine Niyonsaba, Odrina Kaze, Belly Croesus Ganira, Ornella Havyarimana, Eric Nzikwinkunda and Olivier Nibaruta.
Francine Niyonsaba ran on July 30, in the 2nd series, over a distance of 5000 meters. Arrived 4th in the ranking and despite a good place to compete in the final, with a time of 15 min 56 sec, she was disqualified. She will not be able to make the final, the jury concluding that she “stomped off the track during the race”, which meant disqualification. Francine Niyonsaba has a second chance to prove herself in her 10,000-meter race, which is scheduled for August 7. She thus remains in the running over that 10,000-meter distance, according to a reliable source.
Another athlete who is still in contention is Olivier Nibaruta, who will compete on August 8, the final of the marathon.
Among the four athletes who were disqualified, we note Odrina Kaze. The Burundian swimmer had reached the semi-finals phase over a distance of 50 meters freestyle. She finished 2nd in Series 1 in the event she entered on July 30 with a lap time of 33 seconds 39 thirds. But she was eliminated in the semi-finals; she couldn’t reach the finals at that distance.
Belly Croesus Ganira, another swimmer who represented Burundi in the men’s 100m freestyle, was eliminated in the first round on July 27 and was unable to advance to the next round. He finished 8th and last on that course, with a lap time of 54 sec 33 thirds.
Ornella Havyarimana, who represented her country in the discipline of boxing for the women’s flyweights (between 48 and 51 kg), was eliminated in her first fight against Serbian Nina Radovanovic, losing 5-0 by unanimous decision of the judges .
The 4th athlete who is already eliminated is Eric Nzikwinkunda, who represented Burundi over a distance of 800 meters. He was eliminated in the 1st round on July 31, 2021. He had finished as 5th in his series, synonymous with disqualification.