Athletics boss defends team selection

Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
ATHLETICS coach Lisimati Phakamile, who travelled to Poland with the relay team that failed to book a place in the Tokyo Olympic Games, has defended the team selection criteria, arguing that it was authentic.

Zimbabwe sent a five-member team comprising Ngoni Makusha, Makanaka Charamba, Rodwell Ndlovu, Itayi Vambe and Dickson Kamungeremu.

The team finished last in the six-team 4 x 100m relay in a time of 40.54 seconds. Knives have been drawn out for the team, with questions around the selection criteria being brought forward.

“When you look at the team selection, you have to realise that it was not an individual thing. As the coach and director of Naaz, I always strive to choose the best athletes for an event. It was a team that was selected authentically and on time.

“Obviously, there will be issues on who should have been picked and who should have been left out, but what I can guarantee is that those were the best athletes. Selection in athletics is very simple and clear; we just have to look at the times and we are guided by that. The times talk for you and that is the criteria that we have always used,” said Phakamile.

“If an athlete is said to be good but does not have the statistics in athletics, how then do you select that person ahead of people with statistics. For the team that we went with, we looked at the races that we have had so far. We had four races, two of them in Bulawayo, that we used to select the team.”

The United States of America (USA)-based pair of Tinotenda Matiyenga and Kundai Maguranyanga, as well as Tatenda Tsumba, who is in the United Kingdom were not part of the team due to other commitments.

“Unfortunately, our top priority guys from abroad were not able to make it for this meet. Some of them were caught up with their college work so they could not make it. If those guys had made it, we would be talking of a different story. Initially we had selected eight local athletes but then we could only source funds for five athletes,” said Phakamile.

Meanwhile, Naaz will send eight long distance runners to an Olympic qualifying marathon in Cape Town, South Africa, on May 30. The runners are Munyaradzi Jari, Isaac Mpofu, Ngonidzashe Ncube, Jonathan Chinyoka, Winfred Mutiro, Fortunate Chidzivo, Ethel Sibanda and Tryfina Picardo. — @innocentskizoe