Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
QUALIFIERS for the Coca-Cola Four-Minute Mile Challenge will move to Morris Depot in Harare this Saturday with a strong field of athletes expected to take part in the Coca-Cola challenge and its bottling partners in Zimbabwe, Delta Beverages sponsored event.
The four-minute mile competition is an annual men’s competition with a pre-requisite time of four minutes 31 seconds for one to qualify for the final. The final takes place on the final day of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) on the last day of the trade showcase.
So far, only two athletes have qualified for the next stage, with the Harare event expected to have a great number of athletes qualifying to the next stage. Munyaradzi Zizhou and Mthokozisi Mhlanga, both from Blanket Mine have booked their place in the semifinals.
This past weekend at the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) open field and track events championships a qualifier was held and four athletes failed to make the grade.
Normally, a semi-final is held because of the high number of athletes that make it past the qualifying stage.
However, it was not the case last year where athletes struggled to qualify resulting in the semi-finals getting cancelled. A total of 12 athletes ran in last year’s final.
They were meant to be 13 but Tapiwa Chineka of Black Rhinos was unable to take to the field since he was representing the country in Botswana.
“We will be taking the qualifiers to Morris Depot. Last year, the athletes struggled to meet the set standards resulting in a few athletes taking part in the final. This year, it is our hope that athletes have recovered from the post Covid-19 period and we will have more athletes making the cut. We are also looking at going to Gwanda with the qualifiers so that we have everyone in the country getting a chance to qualify,” said Bulawayo Athletics Board (Bab) chairperson Watson Madanyika.
Wellington Varevi came out tops last year. It was the third time that Varevi has won the race after he did so in 2014 when he was just 20 years old and 2018 at the age of 24. The 28-year-old crossed the finish line in a time of four minutes, 13,64 seconds, Nyasha Mutsetse was second in four minutes, 14,31 seconds and Nomore Wiriki was third in four minutes, 14,87 seconds.
Godwin Katakura went into the race with the best qualifying time of four minutes, 10,66 seconds but could only settle for fourth place in four minutes, 15,28 seconds. Varevi went home with a shield, hold medal, miniature trophy and $112 000. Mutsetse’s reward was $56 000, Wiriki pocketed $49 000 while Katakura went home $42 000 richer. -@innocentskizoe
Online Reporter