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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter
NATIONAL Athletics Association of Zimbabwe junior and youth coach Briad Nhubu says they are optimistic of a few more athletes qualifying for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships scheduled for August in Santiago de Cali, Colombia.
The juniors and youths have begun working towards various upcoming competitions with 30 athletes currently in camp at Prince Edward School.
The major competitions include the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in August, in Colombia, African Youth Games in Egypt and the African Union Sports Council Region Five Youth Games in December, in Malawi.
So far Panashe Nhenga and Theophilus Mudzengerere have qualified for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships.
Nhenga has qualified for the 100m event with a time of 10.57 seconds and Mudzengerere made the grade for triple jump with a leap of 15.92m. They qualified last month when they competed in Zambia.
The qualifying time for 100m is 10.60 seconds and for triple jump it’s 15.55m.
“Basically, we have World Athletics Junior Championships in Colombia, in August 2022. So we are targeting potential athletes to qualify for the meet.
“We are also targeting Region Five Games in December in Malawi and that is why this camp comprise of youths. The other major competition we are looking forward to is the African Youth Games in Egypt, in August.
“We called these athletes in camp to also prepare them for NAAZ Junior Championships on the 30th of April in Harare.
“In camp we have 15 athletes who are based at Prince Edward and 15 are local athletes from Harare, so altogether we have 30 athletes for this programme.
“Following the selection policy, we selected some top performing athletes in the country basing on national competition results and regional competition performances,” said Nhubu.
The camp that got underway last Thursday in Harare is running until today.
Qualification to the World Athletics Under-20 Championships closes on May 17 and the meet is due to take place from August 1 to 6 in Colombia.
“We are focusing on the level of preparedness of those athletes who have qualified and also the performance of the others who are aspiring to hit the qualifying standards. We are just optimistic . . . probably the boys sprints.
“Obviously, we are focusing on the running mechanics, technique, speed endurance, strength and explosive speed, among other performance factors.
“We are also targeting to build on the mental toughness, keeping focus, vision and concentration.
“We have some national event coaches to assist in improving these attributes for better performances to be achieved.
“This platform is also an opportunity to have team building for the Youth Games in Malawi as well as Egypt,” said Nhubu.
Last year, Zimbabwe had only two representatives at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships held in Kenya and they could not pull through to the semi-finals as they bowed out in the early stages of the competition.
Meanwhile, a number of local-distance runners are this weekend set to compete in the Two Oceans Ultra-Marathon event in South Africa.
The event includes a half-marathon event that will take place tomorrow and the 56km Ultra-marathon on Sunday.
The likes of veteran runner Mike Fokorani and Jonathan Chinyoka are competing in the ultra-marathon. Chinyoka said he is hoping for a top three finish.
“I am looking forward to a good race. I have had good preparations and my performance at the Old Mutual race in February was a confirmation that my preparations were in the right direction.
“I am targeting to be in top three but what I want the most is to raise my country’s flag high,” said Chinyoka.
In 2016, Fokorani won the ultra-marathon.
Online Reporter