Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Online Reporter
YOUNG athletes Clinton Muunga (18) and Samukeliso Ndebele (17) are geared up to represent Zimbabwe at the World Junior Championships to be held in Kenya, Nairobi next month.
The two youngsters said they have embarked on a rigorous training programme to ensure that they bring the gold home.
Matabeleland South sprinter Muunga said his target was to achieve a time of 10.20 seconds and 20.90 seconds for the 100m and 200m races compared to his qualifying time of 10.46 seconds and 21.21 seconds.
Ndebele, from Harare, said her target for the 100m race was 22.30 seconds compared to her qualifying time of 23.30 seconds.
Muunga, who is a member of the Lisimati and Mabhikwa (LM) Athletics Academy in Matabeleland South, said his journey in athletics started when he was in Grade Three.
“I’m excited that I will be representing the nation in the World Junior Championships in Nairobi, Kenya. I started competing in athletics when I was in Grade Three. Funny enough it was my sister who identified my talent. I used to race with her and when she realised that I had a talent she advised me to start participating in school competitions.
“When I was in Grade Four, I started participating in national competitions. In 2017 I represented the nation in Cosafa Southern Africa Athletics Competitions. I’m glad that I will be representing the nation once again and my goal is to reach the finals,” he said.
Muunga said being a member of the LM Athletics Academy has helped him enhance his performance as an athlete.
He said for the past seven months he has been training extensively and he was glad that his efforts had paid off and he was hoping to record yet another success.
“Right now, I’m focusing on my training so that I perform well. I’m very particular about my diet as I mainly eat food that is high in protein. I limit carbohydrates and acidic foods. I’m also following each and every advice that I’m getting from my coach. I want to be in best shape ever, come the competitions,” he said.
Muunga’s coach Phakamile Lisimati, who is also LM Academy director and National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) national director of coaching and talent identification development, said the academy identified Muunga while he was in Form Two during school competitions.
He said from then they have been working hard to turn Muunga into a regional champion. Lisimati said they were thrilled as an academy to produce such talent.
“It’s our objective as an academy to assist students to pursue both academic and athletic careers. We hope to train more children of such good talent and turn them into champions,” he said.
Ncube, who is a student at Dzivarasekwa High School in Harare and hails from Umguza District in Matabeleland North Province, said she represented the nation in athletics competitions that were held in Botswana and Swaziland.
She said being a member of Lasoc Athletic Club had greatly assisted her to develop her talent.
Ncube said after completing her studies she hoped to take up athletics as her career.
“Athletics is my passion an I want to pursue it as a career. I’m excited to be representing the country in the World Junior Championships and my goal is to bring the gold home. I know that I will be competing against the best of best that is why I’m working extra hard to improve on my performance,” she said.
Her coach, Silas Murungani, who is the director of Lasoc Athletics Club and Naaz national director for junior development, said they were working extra hard for Ncube to improve on her weaknesses.
Murungani said they were mainly working on improving her take-off, maximum speed maintenance, running style, finishing bio mechanics among other techniques.
“I have been working with Samukeliso for the past two years. She is extremely talented and if properly trained and with the necessary resources we can turn her into a regional star. We are delighted to have such talent within the club. We don’t only focus on training our members but we are also concerned about their welfare and we do what is in our power to also address their social and financial needs,” he said.
Muunga and Ncube qualified for the global junior’s meet in the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) national championships that were held in Harare in May.
The World Junior Championships will be held in Kenya, Nairobi from August 17- 22.
Muunga qualified for both the 100m and 200m races after running the races in 10.46 seconds and 21.21 seconds. Qualifying ties for the junior men are 10.58 seconds for 100m and 21.38 seconds for 200m. Ndebele qualified for the women’s 200m World Junior Championships finals with a time of 23.30 seconds. The standard qualifying time for the global Under-20 competition in the 200m women’s race is 24.35 seconds. – @DubeMatutu
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