Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga-Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE men’s 4x400m relay team captain Gerren Muwishi has said early preparations and consistency will be key for their World Athletics Championships appearance next year.
Muwishi led the team that included Thandazani Ndhlovu, Dennis Hove and Leeford Zuze to qualification in May this year when reaching the final of the World Relays in Gaborone, Botswana. Most of the team members have already begun their pre-season preparations for the forthcoming season.
The local season usually gets underway in January. Muwishi said after a long season and also looking at their programme for the next season with the World Championships on their programme, they need to lay a solid foundation.
And starting early is key.
“I think last season was a bit intense for the boys. They are not used to running all the way up until September.
“So, this year we decided to start our base-work a bit earlier so that at least when you have a strong base it will be able to last us the whole season.
“So, it’s just been working on our strength, on our conditioning and our endurance so that we will be able to get to September while still in tip-top condition,” said Muwishi.
The global meet to be staged in Beijing, China from September 10 to 19.
Apart from the relay event, the team members are also looking at chasing qualification in the individual events.
Muwishi believes that will also have a positive impact on the team’s performance in the relay event.
“I think that’s one of the other reasons why we started this early because good individual times will benefit the relay more.
“So, I think now that the relay is automatically qualified for next year, for the World Championships, it’s now up to the guys as individuals to make sure that we also try and get quicker times and qualify to run both individual events as well as the relays in Beijing.
“The good thing about the World Championships is qualification is 60 percent via World Ranking and 40 percent via the actual time.
“So, I guess qualifying via world ranking is the much easier route, but obviously everyone wants to run that time,” said Muwishi.
For men’s 400m they are chasing a qualifying time of 44.45 seconds.
Most of the team members have posted sub-45 performances in 400m, but still have to improve their times to go down to 44.45 seconds.
With 60 percent also making it through the world rankings, closer times to the 44.45 seconds will also be key.
Ndhlovu has a personal best of 44.64 while Hove’s personal best is 44.88, and for Zuze it 44.91.
“We need that 44.3 so that we make sure that we have solidified our qualification for individual events.
“So, Thandazani ran a 44.6 so he is not far off. Leeford and Dennis ran a 44.8 off a very long season.
“So, no one is far from the mark. I am pretty sure that by the time we get to September, one or two or maybe all of the guys might have run that time that’s needed.
“I am part of the team, so I obviously want to make the team better.
“Obviously, a lot of things were said last season so we are trying to work towards also bettering my time for next season so that it benefits the whole team,” added Muwishi.
Muwishi is working with Zuze at the University of Zimbabwe for their training session while Dennis Hove is training under the guidance of his coach Mavuto Tumba.
