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Petros Kausiyo in Budapest, Hungary
ZIMBABWE’S Fortunate Chidzivo may have improved on her personal time but it was still not good enough to land her a credible finish in the gruelling World Athletics Championships women’s marathon here yesterday.
She took to the road in the morning along with 79 other starters but by the end of the 42km competition, which started and ended at Budapest’s Heroes Square, she finished a distant 55th in 2 hours 43 minutes 28 seconds.
Ethiopia’s Amane Shankule, running a season best time of 2:24:23, won the race ahead of her compatriot Goytom Gebreslale (2:24:34) and Morocco’s Fatima Gardadi, who made a storming sprint in the final two kilometres to claim bronze in a time of 2:25:17.
Fifteen of the women who lined up for the start of the marathon could not finish the race.
Chidzivo, who arrived in Budapest on a mission to run a qualification time for the 2024 Olympic Games, will now have to live to fight another day to try and secure a ticket to Paris, France.
The 36-year-old was, however, satisfied with bettering her record from her debut appearance at the World Championships in London in 2017, where she finished 74th and ran 2:58:51. It was Chidzivo’s season best that year. Yet she had started off well in her opening 25km stretch yesterday before gradually fizzling out as it became hotter and humid in Budapest.
“The struggle was real, but I think I fought a good fight today,” Chidzivo said.
“I am happy with the time because I finished in 2hrs 58mins during my first World Championships.
“This was a huge improvement.
“I feel proud to represent the Zimbabwean women at the world stage, running and starting with the world beaters.”
She also spoke about how the race panned out, particularly how the humidity had taken a toll on her, as she recorded 40 degrees in body temperature by the time she crossed the finish line.
“It was not easy and I had been doing well in the splits earlier on.
“However, as it became hotter and humid, the splits continued to go down.
“I felt that I was slowing down, but I said to myself I will have to push and finish this race . . . I am happy and I am not complaining.
“I am glad that despite the tough conditions, I have improved on my time from the London marathon.”
She will now have to wait until early next year to take another crack at qualification for the Olympics, when she takes part in the Durban marathon in South Africa.
“Next for me is to go home and rest.
“For this year, I am done with marathon competitions and will now rest, start again and build for the next marathon in Durban.
“It’s now all about building on the qualifying marathon.
“I cannot continue to run marathons; my aim remains to try and work on improving my strength and speed in order to be ready and in good shape for the Durban International Marathon next year,” she added.
Her coach Benson Chauke was by the roadside yesterday and felt she had represented the country well.
Chauke, who spent the last month working with the marathon runners, also called for better investment in local athletes, particularly from Government, given the challenges of most local sporting associations.
“She ran a race and finished a race.
“The nation sends a team to go and represent them well, and I think she represented the country well,” Chauke said.
“The conditions of the weather and other things affected everyone, and, of course, people would react to them differently. In her case, I think her splits were fair to start with, when the temperatures were cooler, but as temperatures got higher, she kind of slowed down.
“I think it is probably better explained by her high body temperature at the end of the race, where he body temperature was over 40 degrees, and the medical team were really worried about her.
“But she was in high spirits, and she could speak as I communicated with her throughout the race.”
The veteran coach said he was also aware of the huge expectations on Chidzivo to excel.
“Of course, as a nation, people would have wanted time; people would have wanted a good position but we live to fight another day. We did our best . . .
“Building a base for marathon needs four months and when she was preparing for this one, there are things that were already in place and I was not there, so we need to have a very strong foundation as we build our base.”
Both the athlete and coach will review the marathon to look at areas she needs to work on ahead of the Durban marathon next year.
“But I am happy with her and I am quite positive that we can put a strong base and mount another strong challenge for Paris 2024.”
With Chidzivo having done her part, the baton is now with the pair of veteran Isaac Mpofu and Ngonidzashe Ncube, who will feature in the men’s marathon this morning and complete Team Zimbabwe’s participation at the global showpiece that has been attracting huge crowds in Budapest.
Mpofu finished 10th at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in the United States last year.
Online Reporter