{"id":2000131718,"date":"2026-11-09T11:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T09:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000131718"},"modified":"2026-11-09T13:23:05","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T11:23:05","slug":"abizera-qualifies-for-400m-final-as-rwandan-athletes-shine-at-dakar-2026-youth-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/abizera-qualifies-for-400m-final-as-rwandan-athletes-shine-at-dakar-2026-youth-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Abizera qualifies for 400m final as Rwandan athletes shine at Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Abizera secured her place in the final after finishing fifth in Sunday’s semi-final, clocking 57.29 seconds and improving her previous personal best of 58.33 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is scheduled to compete in the final on Monday, November 9, 2026, starting at 6:50 p.m. Kigali time at Complexe Iba Mar Diop, where she will be vying for a medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rwanda is represented at the Games in several disciplines, including athletics, swimming, Kung Fu Wushu, cycling and Taekwondo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In swimming, Rwandan athletes have completed their competitions, with several recording personal bests, while one also established a new national record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mugabo Aragsan set a new Rwandan national record in the 50m freestyle, clocking 29.94 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also improved his personal best in the 50m backstroke, finishing in 36.33 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ntwali Jayden also delivered strong performances, clocking 27.15 seconds in the 50m freestyle and 28.66 seconds in the 50m butterfly, setting personal bests in both events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kalisa Keza improved her personal best in the 50m butterfly, recording 36.11 seconds. She also set a new personal best in the 200m backstroke, finishing in three minutes, six seconds and 58 milliseconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murenzi Sheja Kean competed in the 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 100m butterfly, she improved her personal best by 4.75 seconds, clocking one minute, three seconds and 89 milliseconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One place separates Mugisha Fran\u00e7ois from Wushu final<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In Kung Fu Wushu, Mugisha Fran\u00e7ois, who represented Rwanda in the Changquan and Gunshu events, finished ninth overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He scored 7.966 points in Changquan and 7.863 points in Gunshu, giving him a combined score of 15.829 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only the top eight athletes qualified for the final, leaving Mugisha just one place short of advancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In road cycling, Akimana Donatha finished 22nd out of 41 participants in the women’s 59.5-kilometre race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She encountered a setback after falling while attempting to accelerate and catch up with the other competitors. However, she managed to finish the race, trailing the winner, Angelina Novolodskaya of Russia, by one minute and 47 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the men’s race, which covered 69.5 kilometres, Shema Emmanuel finished 29th among the 39 participants, although six riders did not complete the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both cyclists will return to competition on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, for the Individual Time Trial (ITT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will each cover an 8.5-kilometre course along Corniche Ouest. These will be Rwanda’s final cycling events at the Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, November 9, Uwamahoro Fran\u00e7oise will also compete in Taekwondo in the women’s under-49kg category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is scheduled to face Australia’s MacDonald Mackenzie in a bout set for 1:20 p.m. Kigali time at Complexe Iba Mar Diop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games are being held in Senegal, bringing together athletes aged under 17 from different countries around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mugisha Fran\u00e7ois narrowly missed out on qualifying for the medal-deciding final in Kung Fu Wushu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mugisha finished ninth, while only the top eight athletes advanced to the final.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The Rwandan swimmers have completed their events, recording improved times compared to their previous personal bests.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Uwamahoro Fran\u00e7oise is set to compete in Taekwondo on Monday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Abizera Sonia Eli-Elohe qualified for the 400m final, where medals will be decided.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Abizera Sonia Eli-Elohe competed in the 400m semi-final.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The men’s and women’s road cycling races were held on Sunday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Akimana Donatha competed in the women’s race.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Shema Emmanuel leads the race as the cyclists ride together in a peloton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Rwanda’s Ambassador to Senegal, Festus Bizimana, poses for a photo with cyclist Shema Emmanuel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Rwandan team officials pose for a photo with cyclist Shema Emmanuel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwandan athlete Abizera Sonia Eli-Elohe has qualified for the final of the women’s 400m at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, while other athletes representing Rwanda in various disciplines have continued to put up strong performances, with several setting personal bests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000131720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"archived_slugs":[],"footnotes":"","igh_game_id":0},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000131718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139,"twitter_handle":""}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139,"twitter_handle":""}],"featured_image":{"id":2000131720,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/11\/2J3A1741-768x512-1.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":768,"height":512,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/11\/2J3A1741-768x512-1-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/11\/2J3A1741-768x512-1-300x200.jpg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/11\/2J3A1741-768x512-1.jpg","width":768,"height":512},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/11\/2J3A1741-768x512-1.jpg","width":768,"height":512},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/11\/2J3A1741-768x512-1.jpg","width":768,"height":512}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000131718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000131718"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000131718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000131754,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000131718\/revisions\/2000131754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000131720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000131718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000131718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000131718"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000131718"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000131718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}