November 03, 2024

Missing Ugandan weightlifter located

Missing Ugandan weightlifter located
Julius Ssekitoleko

Ugandan weightlifter Julius Ssekitoleko who absconded from his team's Tokyo 2020 training camp has been found, it has been reported.

Julius Ssekitoleko was discovered in Yokkaichi in the central prefecture of Mie, Kyodo News said while citing police sources.

Ssekitoleko was reported missing from the Ugandan camp in Izumisano on Friday (July 16), prompting a manhunt.

He left a note saying he wanted to live in Japan as life in Uganda was "difficult", and took the bullet train to Nagoya - about 40 kilometres north of Yokkaichi.

Police said on Monday 19 July 2021 that they had seen surveillance footage of a man resembling Ssekitoleko at Nagoya station.

The city which will host the Asian Games in 2026 has the second largest Ugandan population in Japan, with 150 people from the African country said to live there.

Ssekitoleko missed out on a place in the men's Olympic 67 kilogram competition here, but was in the country on a waiting list to compete.