Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) remains optimistic that the country’s Olympic hopefuls will be ready to take part in qualifying competitions between March and April if lockdown restrictions are lifted at the end of this month.
Naaz director of coaching, talent identification and development Lisimati Phakamile said despite the recently imposed ban on all sporting activities, all hope was not lost for those hoping to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
“The month of January was heavy for us in terms of preparations, but sadly everything has been placed on hold. On the national calendar we had the provincial cross-country championships, but that too has been shelved. We had earmarked a number of competitions, especially for March and April where we expected our athletes to participate,” said Phakamile.
“We are hoping that the virus is contained within this month because if we can resume full training at the end of this month, we should be ready to compete in March and April,” he said.
He added that they had given athletes training programmes to follow from their homes.
“We have a very big challenge looking at the fact that sporting activities have been placed on hold. Of course, we have prepared individual training programmes for our athletes which we hope they will follow from their bases. We are hoping the guys will continue to work hard so that their form will not dip.”
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