Online Reporter
Curtworth Masango-Zimpapers Sports Hub
NATIONAL Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president Tendai Tagara says the organisation is pushing to have the refurbished National Sports Stadium athletics track internationally certified before the end of the year.
The development could pave the way for Zimbabwe to host major continental championships.
The National Sports Stadium has become one of the key facilities for the country after refurbishment.
For athletics, Tagara says, the immediate target is to complete the process required for international certification of the track.
“We are hoping that by the end of this year, World Athletics would have confirmed that they can come for the certification,” said Tagara.
“Certification does not mean that the stadium is not of the required standard. We can run a qualifying time at the National Sports Stadium today.
“The advantage of certification is that we can then host competitions such as the African Senior Championships and the African Junior Championships.
“Today, we can run qualifying times for the World Championships or World Junior Championships at the stadium because it is a standard 400-metre track.
“But what we cannot host at the moment are competitions such as the African Junior and African Senior Championships until we have that certification. That is what we are working on, and it is the responsibility of the federation to make sure that happens.”
World Athletics operates a certification system for athletics facilities, supported by technical rules and procedures governing competition infrastructure.
Tagara said the return of the stadium was significant for athletics as the association seeks to strengthen Zimbabwe’s ability to develop athletes locally while providing them with regular competition.
“The National Sports Stadium is back. It is the home of athletics,” he said.
“We appreciate the role that Government is playing. We are hoping that as we go forward, other facilities such as White City will also be brought back into shape.”
Tagara said the federation was also pursuing what it calls a “homegrown solution”, concentrating resources on disciplines where Zimbabwe can access regular high-level regional competition.
“We have gone into what we term a homegrown solution. That is our philosophy, and our focus is on the track,” he said.
“We can access South Africa, Botswana and Zambia, which is why our sprinters can perform better. It is all about getting competition every now and then.
“We are focusing on sprints and we are also focusing on long-distance events.”
However, he admitted that field events, particularly the throwing disciplines, remain an area of concern.
“Where we are weak as a nation is in the field events, especially the throws. Even in the region, competitions in those events are limited.
“In the track events, we have both sprints and long-distance. In the jumps, again, as a nation we are pushing because we have shown that we have the capacity.
“It is only shot put, discus and javelin where we are a little bit weak, partly because of the lack of competitions in the region, and that brings us behind in terms of performance.”
