GLASGOW — Uganda’s Shida Leni booked her place in the women’s 400 metres semi-finals at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games after producing an impressive performance in the heats, while compatriot Maureen Banura narrowly missed out on qualification.
Leni finished second in her heat with a time of 52.14 seconds, earning an automatic place in the semi-finals as Team Uganda continued its athletics campaign at the Games.
The Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) hailed the performance, congratulating the sprinter on advancing to the next round.
Banura also put in a determined effort, clocking 53.88 seconds, but her time was not enough to secure one of the remaining qualification places, bringing her individual 400m campaign to an end.
Despite the disappointment, Banura’s performance was praised by Uganda’s athletics fraternity, which described her race as spirited against a strong Commonwealth field.
The results add to Uganda’s growing list of athletics successes in Glasgow. Earlier, former world champion Halima Nakaayi progressed to the women’s 800m semi-finals after finishing third in her heat, while the country’s middle- and long-distance runners remain among its strongest medal prospects.
Team Uganda has enjoyed a promising start to the Commonwealth Games, highlighted by Husnah Kukundakwe’s historic silver medal in the women’s SB8 100m breaststroke—the country’s first medal of the Glasgow 2026 Games and Uganda’s first-ever Commonwealth Games swimming medal.
Uganda is competing in several disciplines at the Glasgow Games, including athletics, swimming, boxing, netball and para sports, with athletes seeking to add to the country’s medal tally in the coming days.