adminChina, is disappointing and my guess is that nobody is more disappointed with those results than Coventry herself who has been invincible in the 200m backstroke since the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
She is also a fierce fighter in the pool as she demonstrated in Beijing (2008) and Rome (2009) respectively when, to our delight, she overcame adversity to claim not only gold medals but world records as well.
To see her failing to qualify for the finals of all three events she competed in is something I did not even contemplate; I was focusing more on the colours of the medals she was likely to get; at the very least I expected a medal in the 200m backstroke event.
The big question is, what happened in Shanghai, because her performances in the run-up to the World Championships were impressive and although her times were not on the very high end of the
scale, the performance graph reflected steady improvement and the expectation was that she would peak at the right time but this was not to be.
Could the move away from former coach Kim Brackin be a factor in the performance equation at the world level?
This question could, in my view, generate some interesting debate among top coaches.
What next?
For starters I expect Coventry to be in an uncompromising mood at the 10th All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, next month, making a clean sweep in her individual events.
Thereafter she can turn her attention to the London 2012 Olympic Games preparations because whichever way you look at it, next year’s Olympic Games will be a defining moment.
I do not subscribe to the argument that age has finally caught up with Coventry even though I am not an expert in swimming because swimmers of her age or even older have been able to make the finals at World Championships and Olympic Games in the past.
While younger and faster swimmers come onto the scene every year, I continue to believe that if all goes well, Coventry will win a medal in London.
In my book, she just had a bad Championship in Shanghai, yet over the next 12 months she can reinvent herself and confound her critics but this can only happen if she continues to believe in herself.
On the other hand, rising track and field star Ngonidzashe Makusha has turned himself into a bright prospect for London 2012.
If he stays healthy his prospects look very good in both the 100-metre sprint and long jump event.
After missing the bronze medal by one centimetre in Bei-jing in 2008, his continued improvement in long jump was a natural expectation but it is in the short sprint that he has been a real revelation because he seems to have been transformed into a world class sprinter overnight.
The good thing is that these two “power” events complement each other, making them an ideal combination.
We wait with baited breath for his performance at the World Track and Field Championships later this month.
This is going to be a litmus test as all top sprinters and jumpers are heading to Daegu, South Korea, for a showdown which in a way is a preview of London 2012.
The potential that Zimbabwean track and field athletes demonstrated three years ago in Beijing is perhaps about to be realised through the exploits of Makusha but what he needs right now from all of
us is support rather than pressure.
Let us be realistic in our expectations and accept the fact that our top athletes may not always be at their best.
·Robert Mutsauki is the former Zimbabwe Olympic Committee chief executive and is now working as the Technical Director of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca).
Online Reporter