Ugandan athlete returns home after fleeing Olympic camp
KAMPALA: A Ugandan weightliter who went missing in Japan last week ater his dreams of taking part in the Tokyo Olympics were dashed, returned home on Friday.
Julius Ssekitoleko, 20, was tracked down in Japan on Tuesday, several days ater he fled from an Olympic training camp in an act a Ugandan minister had branded “unacceptable conduct and treachery”.
The foreign ministry said Friday that Ssekitokelo -- who was greeted by government officials when he flew into Entebbe airport -- had “violated the code of conduct” of the Ugandan Olympic team and would now undergo counselling.
Ugandan officials said the athlete had found out he would not be able to compete at the Games because he did not meet Olympic standards in the latest international rankings. A note was found in Ssekitoleko’s hotel room in which he said he wanted to work in Japan and asked that his belongings be sent to his family in Uganda.
Salim Musoke Ssenkungu, president of the Ugandan Weightliting Federation, told AFP last week that Ssekitoleko had been training “very hard” for his first Olympic weightliting competition.
“He’s not from a rich family so it took a lot of interest and energy from him to be successful,” Ssenkungu said.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Okello Oryem said on Tuesday that the Ugandan government had already apologised to the government of Japan, adding: “It was unacceptable conduct and treachery.”
On Friday, the government said in a statement it was “commited to (Ssekitoleko’s) continuous rehabilitation” to help him in his career, “but also help him understand how such acts of misconduct can not only affect him as an athlete but also other athletes in the sports sector and the nation at large”.
COVID-HIT GESCHKE OUT OF OLYMPIC ROAD CYCLING RACE: German cyclist Simon Geschke has tested positive for coronavirus and has been ruled out of Saturday’s Tokyo Olympics road race, the German Olympic Commitee said.
“It is so hard to be taken out of the running so soon before the competition,” Geschke, a former Tour de France stage winner, said on Friday.
“I followed all the hygiene rules to the best of my knowledge. I feel good physically, but emotionally this is a very hard day for me.”
The other 12 members of the German cycling team were staying in the same hotel as Geschke but all have tested negative.
Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia starts favourite in the 234km race that includes five climbs around Mount Fuji, the highest point in Japan at an altitude of 3,776m (12,388t).
Pogacar headlines a star-studded peloton that includes 2016 Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet and his Belgian team-mates Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert.
Meanwhile, South African race walker Lebogang Shange has been banned for four years for doping and will miss the Tokyo Olympics.
The former African champion was entered in the men’s 20-kilometer race on Aug. 5. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on the case in Tokyo.
The 30-year-old Shange tested positive for the anabolic steroid trenbolone and was provisionally suspended in December 2019. His ban will expire before the 2024 Paris Olympics.