adminAt least 36 countries have confirmed their participation in the event which attracts the continent’s finest runners. The National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) president Joseph Mungwari said he was confident that the country’s representatives would do well.
“As Naaz we are confident that we will have two or so atheletes in the top 20 because the athletes we are sending are the cream of the country. Kenyans, Ethiopians and Moroccans have in the past dominated African competitions and we are hopeful that our representatives will hold their own,” Mungwari said.
Blanket Mine’s long distance runner Nkosiyazi Sibanda, George Majaji of the Midlands Province, Jacob Mugomeri and Elmore Sibanda will compete in the senior men’s category.
Matabeleland South’s Thandiwe Nyathi, who came out tops at the National Cross-Country Championships in Redcliff, and Faithful Goremusandu of the Midlands, are the country’s representatives in the senior women’s category.
Junior Sithulisiwe Zhou, who represented the country at the inaugural World Youth Games, and Pamela Katuruza complete the list of the travelling party and they will take part in the juniors’ category.
Matabeleland South Athletics Board secretary-general Felimehang Mathe will travel with the team as coach.
The African Cross-Country Championships will be held on a 2km course that will start at the Rondebosch Boys High School field, include a loop through Keurboom Park and finish at the front of the Western Province Cricket Club.
The course, according to the competition’s official website, has been designed in line with international standards and it gives the spectators the chance to see some of the world’s top athletes in action up close. It also allows the spectators to interact with the athletes and experience a world-class event first hand.
Meanwhile four Bulawayo swimmers are part of the Zimbabwe team which left the country for Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where they will take part in a Level Three competition.
The event will run from Friday until Tuesday next week.
Seven other members of the team are from Harare and the swimmers are expected to meet in South Africa ahead of the competition. Matabeleland Amateur Swimming Board chairman Eddie Cyprianos was upbeat about the team’s chances especially the Matabeleland swimmers with whom he has worked for the past seven months.
“Our boys and girls are top notch swimmers and I am positive that we will bring home medals,” he said.
The Bulawayo swimmers are Luke van Breda, Andresious Cyprianos, James Isemonger and Mieke Koen and they will be joining Mashonaland swimmers Sloane Marshall, James Lawson, Nicholas Burnett, Aiden Onorati, Chase Onorati, Tarryn Rennie and Megan Carey Smith to make the team of 11.
Team Zimbabwe
Senior men: George Majaji, Elmore Sibanda, Nkosiyazi Sibanda, Jacob Mugomeri Senior women: Thandiwe Nyathi, Faithful Goremusandu Junior women: Sithulisiwe Zhou, Pamela Tafadzwa Katuruza Official: Felimehang Mathe (secretary-general Matabeleland South)
Online Reporter