Jean Pierre Cyiza clinched a bronze medal in the boys’ lightweight category (60kg) at the ongoing African Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana.
The 17 year old Cyiza who lost to South Africa’s Fuzile Anzinga in the semi-finals on Tuesday night at Botho University to become the first Rwandan athlete to win a medal at the quadrennial youth continental games.
“I am so honoured to have won a bronze medal and I am glad I represented Rwanda well,” said the excited Cyiza.
Rwanda’s head coach Gashugi Kananura admitted that, “This is a good result for us as a country and we plan to build on this in the future. There is surely a lot we can do to build on this.”
Rwanda has been represented by 12 sports disciplines including athletics, basketball, cycling, fencing, golf, karate, lawn tennis, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis and volleyball.
This event is a qualification event for athletics, basketball 3-on-3 and swimming.
This is Rwanda’s first time to compete at these games and the first edition of the games were held in Rabat, Morocco.