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Tadious Manyepo in LILONGWE, Malawi
TEAM Zimbabwe that participated at the just-ended African Sports Council Region 5 Games held in Lilongwe, Malawi, returned home yesterday with the Government praising their industry.
The 203 athletes who represented the country in 11 sport codes had a remarkable showing, picking the second most medals after South Africa in the biennial jamboree contested by 10 countries.
Zimbabwe raked in a total of 82 medals, including 12 gold, 25 silver and 47 bronze, in the fiesta that ran from December 2 to December 11.
The country’s athletes were so good, including in field and track competitions, that most of them posted personal best times.
And the Government, which has been flawless in their support of Team Zimbabwe from the preparatory stages, has come praising the youngsters for their efforts.
The Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation, Tino Machakaire, who witnessed some events in the initial stages of the competition in Malawi, said the talented youngsters should be kept together and a deliberate plan to further nurture them should be put in place.
“As Zimbabwe, we are extensively proud of the performances posted by Team Zimbabwe at the AUSC Region 5 Games.
“You would know that this age-group (Under-20) is largely disadvantaged. They didn’t play sport for the past two or so years due to Covid-19 restrictions,” said Machakaire.
“But then for them to come out in full force, post their PB times and doing so well is something commendable.
“I am sure we have a base to build on going into the African Games which are coming in July next year.
“You look at the talent exhibited by the Young Gems (the netball team), for example. The stamina and the technique can only be improved and that can help the Gems in the World Cup coming in 2023.
“Several players can be improved from that Young Gems team and can bring the much-needed energy in the Gems team going to the World Cup.
“You look at tennis. Our guys did extremely well , they showed how much we can benefit as a country if we embark on deliberate ways to improve performance.
“Every sport code did very well, showing a lot of potential and we are extremely proud of the athletes and their officials.
“We need to keep the athletes and make sure they receive world-class support and training.”
The athletes returned in two batches with the first group landing in Harare around 2:30pm yesterday.
The second group was scheduled to leave Lilongwe later in the day.
Some athletes and officials from swimming, boxing, taekwondo and gymnastics returned home on December 8 after the completion of their events.
Meanwhile, AUSC Region 5 chief executive, Stanley Mutoya, has hailed the competition exhibited by athletes from the 10 countries.
“The competition was good and as the AUSC Region 5, we are delighted to see such levels of competition,” said Mutoya of Zimbabwe.
“We hope to see a number of them growing to become world class stars in the future”.
Online Reporter