Danielle bags gold

Ellina Mhlanga

Senior Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE’S Danielle Kaschula continues to shine on the international scene after she won a gold medal at the World Indoor Rowing Championships held virtually over the weekend.

Kaschula smashed her way through to clinch gold and the world championship title in the Under-19 Women’s 500m event.

She dashed out to an early lead in the race before grabbing the win in emphatic style with a lead of over 16 metres against her fellow competitors in this event.

Kaschula came first in 1 minute 31 seconds beating Doris Meinbek of Estonia, who got a silver medal in a time of 1 minute 32.7 seconds.

There were 13 international competitors in this event from countries such as USA, Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia and Egypt.

The athletes from Tunisia and Egypt also made a strong showing in this event.

Tunisia’s pair of Aicha Abdeaziz and Hala Belhadje Mohamed were third and fourth in 1 minute 35.4 seconds and 1 minute 36.3 seconds respectively.

On fifth place was Egypt’s Mayam Ahmed with a time of 1 minute 38.2 seconds.

Kaschula also participated in the Under-19 Women’s 2000m event and finished a commendable seventh place in 7 minutes 23.5 seconds.

Doris Meinbek of Estonia won the race in 6 minutes 55.9 seconds.

Rowing Association of Zimbabwe president, Andrew Lorimer, said they are proud of the achievements by the young rower.

“The Rowing Association of Zimbabwe is very proud of Danielle and of her amazing achievements at such a young age at the World Indoor Rowing Championships.

“It is hoped that Danielle’s achievements will help inspire other young Zimbabwean rowers and athletes of all sporting disciplines to strive for medal performances and also to compete in Indoor Rowing.

“The World Indoor Rowing Championships is for both able bodied and para athletes and the Rowing Association of Zimbabwe would like to see more athletes from Zimbabwe qualify for the Championships in 2023.

“All the events were screened virtually and watched by thousands of spectators around the world. For each event the individual athletes raced on an indoor rowing machine linked to a computer screen so that each athlete could see how they were doing against their competitors.