Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU, Main Campus - After nearly a year of intense psychological training, Sprinter James Ojirot is confident enough to secure space in team Uganda ahead of the much-awaited Tokyo Olympics. The final year engineering student at KIU resumed with aggressive physical training on Monday, January 25th, 2021, ahead of national trials set for 6th February 2021.

James, who runs for KIU and Uganda Prisons at club level, is the first student-athletes at KIU, Main Campus to disclose their intention to represent Uganda at the re-scheduled Tokyo Olympic games though the university remains affluent of many potential candidates.

We found him watching a documentary titled’ ’I AM BOLT’ ’before he could narrate to us his plans for the world’s greatest sporting event. The documentary is a story about the life and achievements of the world’s greatest sprinter, Usain Bolt. ’This is my daily inspiration,’’ James told us. ‘’Bolt is a good role model, one who helped me to identify a purpose in life,’’ He admitted.

The 200-meter specialist will have to overcome acute competition from a teammate at Prisons Musa Akile, a former teammate at KIU, Haron Adoli, and Police’s Adome Pius if he is to get a comfortable space in the final national team that will fly to Japan for the summer games if all goes well.

Despite the competition, James is ready to put what he has learned in the past two years under coach Kasim Latigo and his club coach, Okello Paul into practice. He said the two have tremendously helped him to identify his weaknesses and strength.

‘’I now know it’s time to harvest what my coaches have been sowing in me though I have to first defeat my doubts,’’ James said. ‘’I don’t accept defeat because age doesn’t come behind and besides, I will be accountable to generations to come,’’ He added.

James disclosed to this website that he has learned a lot during the psychological training for instance; Focusing on progress than perfection, avoiding unfavorable comparisons, bias, doing things to impress people, and inferiority complex.

‘’This is helping me to discover my true potential through which I have also realized that everything is possible once you give it time and concentration and that life is too short to have limits, to keep grudges, hatred and to recover from setbacks.

James currently runs at a speed of 21.05 seconds and must beat the national Olympics cut off speed mark of 20.24 seconds to make it to the Tokyo games rescheduled for June this year.

He acknowledges the role played by motivators, Dorcus Inzikuru, his team coach at Prisons, his Jamaican coaches, Glen Mills and Stephen Francis, and the KIU community for keeping him positive, identifying his strength, aiding his research, and giving him hope respectively.