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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
DESPITE getting a reprieve after being allowed to resume activities on Wednesday, the Bulawayo Athletics Board (BAB) says it will be impossible to go ahead with the Open World Olympic Africa Challenge meet that had been scheduled for Saturday at White City Stadium.
The event was meant to give local athletes their final chance to qualify for the World Junior Championships to be held in Kenya in August.
Bab chairperson Watson Madanyika said: “It is welcome news that we have been granted the green light to resume. However, the go ahead has come a bit late for us to host the Olympic Africa Challenge this weekend. We now have to work out on a new date for the meet, which is crucial in terms of giving athletes an opportunity to qualify for the World Junior Championships. The qualification period is not yet over and we hope some of our athletes that are closer to qualifying times will keep pushing until they make it.”
So far, only Clinton Muunga and Samukeliso Ndebele have qualified for the event.
The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) authorised 24 sports, including athletics to resume activities in accordance with their previously approved Covid-19 protocols encompassing national and World Health Organisation guidelines, after announcing a blanket ban on all sports at the weekend. – @innocentskizoe
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