adminAugustine Hwata Senior Sports Reporter
AFTER breaking his standing national record in the decathlon, Keegan Cooke has now set his sights on taking part at the All-Africa Games en-route to the Olympic Games in 2016.On December 5 last year, Cooke broke his own record in decathlon when he accumulated 7 078 points, adding more than 500 points to his previous national record of 6 573 points set in April 2012.
Cooke is on a scholarship at the University of Arizona and becomes the greatest decathlete to emerge from Zimbabwe after Stan Flower who inspired him to take up the combined sporting discipline.
“I started off as a 400m hurdler and I also participated in relays and then I had a coach who was adamant that that I should try decathlon in my first year at college. So we trained as a 400m runner and competed as a decathlete and we were successful enough in the first season to then try it again,” said Cooke.
Cooke first competed in decathlon in 2010 after receiving a scholarship to Arizona and rather took a back seat in 2011 but returned in 2012 when he broke the long standing Zimbabwean record that had been held by Flowers for 23 years.
“I returned in 2012 and I also had a good season in 2013,” said Cooke yesterday.
Decathlon is a multi-disciplined event in which the athletes compete in 10 different events -100m, 400m, 110m hurdles, 1 500m, high jump, long jump, pole vault, discuss, shot put and javelin – to accumulate aggregate gross points.
Cooke is back home where he is enjoying time, after recently engaging to Amy Suddens, but the athlete will be returning to the United States next week to resume his training in California, hoping to compete in various events in the United States.
“I played with Mr Flowers’ sons for many years and he told me that I should be a decathlete and he is the one who first recognised me,” Cooke.
Cooke said he is planning on marrying his fiancée and settle in Zimbabwe where they will have “10 children”, one for every event in decathlon.
Flowers, who is now helping the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe in tracking Cooke’s progress, believes the decathlete is well on course to take part at the next Olympics Games in Rio, Brazil.
“Decathlon works on points, whatever points one gets in track, throws or jumps converts to points. The guy with the most points after the two days wins.
“In order to qualify for the Olympics, there are standards which Keegan, if we take scores over the years from 2011, we could notice an improvement of 500 points each year.
“So if he maintains that course, then he should be able to make the Africa Games. If he excels at the All-Africa Games, then he could make it to the next Olympics Games,” said Flowers
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Peter Tanyanyiwa