Two Tanzanian runners fail to compete in Siena Marathon

Dar es Salaam. As two Tanzanian long distance runners failed to compete in Italy’s Siena Marathon, another Tanzanian famous athlete Emmanuel Giniki is expected to compete in the Olympic Games qualifying races in France or Italy.

The Siena Marathon took place last Sunday, whereby Kenyan runners Angela Tanui and Eric Kiptanui claimed victories. Tanui broke the Italian all-comers’ record with time of 2:20:08.

The race was conducted as an opportunity for athletes to achieve qualifying marks for the Olympic Games in Tokyo – with co-operation from the Italian Athletics Federation, World Athletics and the Xiamen Marathon, which was unable to welcome overseas entrants to race last weekend due to pandemic restrictions.

The runners, who failed to make it are Michael Kishiba and Natalia Elisante, according to Athletics Tanzania (AT) Vice President John Bayo. Bayo said Kishiba failed to travel because he did not get a detailed invitation from organisers.

He said the organisers used Kishiba’s phone numbers to invite him contrary to procedures as they were supposed, he added, to write an invitation letter to the Tanzanian runner. Bayo also said Natalia failed to secure a visa after facing a lockdown in Eldoret, Kenya, where she was training. “She was not allowed to leave due to Kenya’s lockdown and our efforts paid off when only few days left before the event took place. She was not in a position to secure a visa after leaving Kenya’s camp and instead she decided to remain in Tanzania,” said Bayo. However, he said AT is still struggling to find qualifying races for the runners to secure tickets for the global event.

“Giniki will next month travel to France or Italy to compete in a qualifying event.,” he said.