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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter
RISING high jumper Kudakwashe Chadenga says he is shifting his focus to next year, after missing qualification to the World Under-20 Championships that get underway next week in Kenya.
Chadenga was one of the hopefuls for Zimbabwe after posting some promising performances. The championships are due to take place from August 17 to 22 in Nairobi.
But his efforts to pursue qualification were halted by the Covid-19 pandemic since he could not attend some of the qualifying events due to travel restrictions and some of the competitions were cancelled.
However, despite the disappointment, Chadenga is holding his head high and says he is now focusing on next year.
“Basically I was looking forward to qualify to go for the World Under-20 Championships. But due to Covid-19 and travel restrictions I couldn’t train enough to qualify to go for the World Championships, and I couldn’t travel to some of the qualifying events.
“But I don’t blame Covid-19, maybe it was just not meant to be. My focus is now on 2022,” said Chadenga.
Chadenga says he remains in touch with his coach Aaron Whyte.
“At the moment I am training. My coach is just sending me a training programme, so that I can train at home.
“We wanted to prepare for next year but at the moment we are taking it lightly. But I think if and when the lockdown restrictions are eased we can go back to full training,” said Chadenga.
The rising high jumper set a new national junior record of 2.14m for high jump in April at the National Junior Championships, in Bulawayo.
The qualifying standard for the World Under-20 Championships is 2.16m and he was one of the athletes earmarked to make the grade.
Online Reporter