American coach to work with local athletes

FORMER American middle-distance runner Khadevis Robinson says he is working on creating synergies with local athletes in a bid to have more athletes going abroad.

Robinson, a coach in the United States, was speaking after the successful hosting of a one-day workshop held at White City Stadium at the weekend.

Thirty five participants including athletes and coaches attended the course which ran under the theme: “running and reading initiative.”

“I can gladly say this was a successful workshop. The participants were active and l really enjoyed interacting with each and one of them.

“They were very inquisitive which shows their eagerness to learn. This particular workshop covered areas which include training, reading and exploring opportunities to qualify for major events.

“I have so much faith in the talent this country has in athletics which is why l get excited to come down here and share some of the knowledge l have.

“Hopefully, soon we will be able to facilitate moves for some of the athletes to move to some of the top athletics schools outside the country so that we help each other in fully utilising the talent at our disposal,” said Robinson.

The next camp is set for July 15 in Harare.

Robinson, is an American retired middle-distance runner and coaches both the men’s and women’s cross-country teams and is also an assistant track coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Robinson specialised in the 800 metres with his personal best time being 1:43.68 minutes, which he achieved in August 2006 in Rieti.

Robinson is a four-time US Indoor Champion (1999, 2005, 2006, 2007) and Outdoor Champion (1999, 2006, 2008, 2009).

He is also a six-time silver medalist in the 800m at the US Outdoor Championships, including a pair of runner-up finishes at the US Olympic Track & Field Trials in 2004 and 2012.

Robinson won the 1999 USA Indoor Championships and was a finalist at the World Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

In 2002, he ran the fourth-fastest time in the world in the 800 meters in Finland with a personal-best of 1:44.41.

In 2019, Robinson was selected as a USA State Department Sports Envoy Ambassador and that is when he visited Zimbabwe and worked with the embassy on gender-based violence initiatives.

Meanwhile, The Bulawayo Athletics Board (Bab) will host their Track and Field championships at White City Stadium on Saturday.Entry fees are pegged at US$2 per event per athlete for cadets, youths and juniors, US$3 per event per athlete for seniors and US$4 per relay team.

The programme will commence at 8:00am

Events on offer are 100m,100mh, 110mh, 200m, 400m, 400mh, 800m,1500m ,3000m, 5000m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, ZITF Coca-Cola 4 minute mile challenge, long jump, triple jump, high jump, javelin, shot put, discus.

After the track and field event, focus will shift to the Zimbabwe School of Mines 21km fundraising event aimed at raising funds to drill and equip the school with at least four boreholes.

It is set for July 29.

Registration for the event is now open with fees pegged at US$10 for the 10 km race, US$5 for the 5km race and US$15 for the 21 km race.

— @innocentskizoe.