Uganda sprint sensation Orogot faces criticism over Monaco performance

Uganda sprint sensation Orogot faces criticism over Monaco performance

Festus Chuma 14:00 - 17.07.2024

Orogot remains confident ahead of Olympic debut dismissing pressure despite recent slower race times.

Ugandan 200m sprinter Tarsis Orogot feels completely at ease as he prepares for his Olympic debut.

The University of Alabama student, currently in his fourth week in Europe, is fine-tuning his performance for the Paris Games, which will commence on July 26.

The 21-year-old has participated in two 200m races on the Wanda Diamond League (DL) circuit over the past ten days.

His latest performance was a third-place finish during the Herculis Meeting in Monaco, a French Principality, on Friday night.

Orogot clocked 20.32 seconds in third place via lane seven at the Stade Louis II.

Despite posting his slowest time over nine 200m outdoor races this year, Orogot remains unbothered.

"The race went well. These are just build-up races," Orogot told Daily Monitor in a recent interview.

A few days prior to the Monaco race, Orogot recorded 20.18 seconds in second place behind Alexander Ogando during the Meeting Paris at the Stade Charléty.

In Monaco, Orogot came behind Ogando and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who won in 19.87 seconds.

Orogot will be Uganda’s only sprinter in the 21-man athletics contingent set to compete at the Stade de France and along the streets of Paris for track and field competitions.

This year, he broke his own 200m national record (NR) with a time of 19.75, making him the fifth-fastest man in the world in 2024.

No male sprinter from Uganda has competed at the Olympics since Davis Kamoga won a 400m bronze medal during the Atlanta 1996 Games in the USA.

Specifically in the 200m event Orogot is the first Ugandan to feature in 32 years since Francis Ogola competed at the Barcelona 1992 Games in Spain.

Orogot first gained attention as an emerging threat in sprinting distances in 2017 when he ran a time of 10.6 seconds in the 100m at the age of 14, securing the top spot at the Kampala UAF Trials.

That same year, he demonstrated his potential in the 200m, placing fifth in the Ugandan Championships with a time of 22.65.

A few years later, in 2021, Tarsis Orogot earned global respect at the U20 World Athletics Championships.

In his debut international event, the Ugandan reached the finals of the 200m, finishing fourth.

He also advanced to the semifinals of the 100m, narrowly missing second place.

Orogot has now marked a new milestone in his career by qualifying for the upcoming Paris Olympics.

Competing at the Tom Jones Memorial, the University of Alabama student clocked a 19.90 in his season opener, dipping under the Olympic qualification mark of 20.16.

With this 19.90, Orogot not only bettered his national record and personal best of 19.94, but also set a new school and NCAA record.

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