Bar unforeseen circumstances, it is likely Uganda will scoop more medals on Day Three of athletics at the Islamic Solidarity Games at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Up to eight Ugandans could line up on the light blue tartan for race finals on the penultimate day of athletics at the sixth Solidarity Games in Riyadh.
The medal expectations are high because these Games are relatively a lower standard, in comparison with the Olympics, World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games, for the crop of talent selected by Uganda Athletics (UAt) to compete in Riyadh.
Yet UAt and Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) are using the Riyadh stage to prepare athletes for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games in Scotland and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games in the USA.
For a runner like Halimah Nakaayi, her reputation is even on the line when she lines up for the women’s 800 metres final.
Regardless of the opposition on other lanes, Nakaayi knows she must win the two-lap event owing to the weight of her profile.
Nakaayi won the 800 metres world title in Doha, Qatar in 2019, she took silver and bronze at the African Games in 2019 in Morocco and in 2024 in Ghana respectively.
At the Solidarity Games, Nakaayi even medalled with a silver at the 2017 Baku edition in Azerbaijan. A medal in the event tonight could also cushion her sequential shortcomings at the recent bigger championships.
‘I’ve got to close out my season strongly, at least with something,’ Nakaayi, 31, said after she missed the final of the two-lap race at the Tokyo World Championships in Japan two months ago.
Besides, Tom Dradriga too is keen on getting onto the podium in the men’s 1500 metres final. He comfortably won Heat 2 of the men’s 800 metres in 1:49.43 on a hot morning yesterday.
‘Despite the very hot weather, I have managed to deliver to my best,’ said Dradriga, who also competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics in France and the Tokyo Worlds in Japan.
‘I still have a final in 1500m tomorrow night (Wednesday) and I look forward to facing the lads,’ added the 800 metres bronze medallist from the 2024 Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Douala, Cameroon.
In the 800 metres Heat, the field went through the first lap in 54.75 but Dradriga in third, surged into second with 200 metres left before taking the lead in the final bend.
In the sprints, Shida Leni is looking to make it to the podium in the women’s 400 metres final after she won Heat 2 in 52.47 seconds via lane 5 yesterday.
‘Today, I just wanted to qualify for finals because I know it is not an easy race. So I am so grateful,’ said the 31-year-old whose personal best is 50.93 seconds, a national record.
‘We will see what comes out of the final tomorrow (today) and I am ready for it,’ she added.
Leni, who also competed in Tokyo, will face race favourite 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain who won Heat 1 in a time of 52.13. In Naser’s Heat was another Uganda Maureen Banura who finished fifth in 54.78.
2025 ISLAMIC SOLIDARITY GAMES
UGANDANS IN ACTION – WEDNESDAY (ATHLETICS)
8.30pm: Men’s 200 Metres Final
9pm: Halimah Nakaayi (Women’s 800 Metres Final)
9.15pm: Tom Dradriga (Men’s 1500 Metres Final)
9.30pm: Shida Leni (Women’s 400 Metres Final)
9.42pm: Men’s 400 Metres Final
9.55pm: Charity Cherop (Women’s 5000 Metres Final)
RESULTS
MEN’S 800 METRES HEAT 2
1 Tom Dradriga (UGA) 1:49.43
2 Faisal Maghrabi (KSA) 1:49.47
3 Ebrahim Alzofairi (KWT) 1:49.51
WOMEN’S 400 METRES HEAT 1
1 Salwa Naser (BHR) 52.13
2 Patience Okon George (NGR) 52.91
3 Salma Lehlali (MAR) 53.26
4 Samira Awali Boubacar (NIG) 53.34
5 Mauren Akiiki Banura (UGA) 54.78
WOMEN’S 400 METRES HEAT 2
1 Shida Leni (UGA) 52.47
2 Houda Nouiri (MAR) 52.72
3 Aliyah Abrams (GUY) 53.01