Uganda's sports delegation to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are scheduled to depart on July 28, confirmed Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) president Francis Nyamgweso.
"The Olympic village opens on July 27 and our team will be leaving a day after so that they reach in China on July 29. We have decided to send them early so that they can acclimatize to the hot weather conditions in the Chinese summer," said Nyangweso.
The UOC boss warned the federations with athletes bound for the Beijing Olympic Games to guard them against being photographed for commercial purposes, saying that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had set new rules to protect the image of the Games.
Addressing a meeting in Kampala over the weenkend, Nyangweso said all athletes bound for the Olympics are to sign eligibility forms, which bars their pictures in advertisements that are not Olympic related.
"It's a new rule. It starts from the time they sign the forms to the end of the games. After that, they will be free to advertise anywhere," he said, adding that athletes who have running contracts will not be affected.
Nyangweso also called upon the federations not to lay back like it was in the past quadrennial, but come up with talent identification programs. He advised them to forward the names of athletes they think can benefit from the 2012 scholarships like Edwin Ekiring and Duncan Mugabe have for the 2008.
"We should stop that bickering in federations. It does not help sports. Let us work towards promoting sports, start thinking about how to enter a big athletics team to the London Games in 2012. The time to start preparations is now," said Nyangweso.
The official number of athletes that will hold the East African country's flag in Beijing is eleven. The biggest number is from athletics while the rest are from badminton, swimming and boxing.
World Athletics Championships 5,000m bronze medalist Moses Kipsiro leads the team of seven athletes that includes Alex Malinga (marathon), Boniface Kiprop (10,000m), Geoffrey Kusuro (5,000m), Benjamin Kiplagat (3,000mSC), Abraham Chepkirwok (800m) and female runner Justine Bayiga (400m).
Ronald Serugo is the only pugilist, while swimmers Gilbert Kaburu and Aya Nakitanda are also set to make the trip. Africa's number one badminton player Edwin Ekiring completes the list of Uganda's 11 representatives.
The late John Akii-Bua is the only Ugandan to win an Olympic Games gold medal. He won the 400m hurdles gold at the 1972 Games in Munich, Germany.
(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2008)