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Ellina Mhlanga Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE long distance runner Ngonidzashe Ncube feels he is in a better shape to improve his time at the World Athletics Championships as he makes his second appearance at the global showpiece.
The global showpiece got underway on Saturday in Budapest, Hungary and is running until August 27.
Ncube will be a cast of a small contingent of Team Zimbabwe that also includes Isaac Mpofu and Fortunate Chidzivo and Tapiwa Makarawu.
Makarawu is the lone Zimbabwean in the sprints in which he will compete in the 200m event. For Ncube the first target is to surpass his personal best of 2hours 11minutes when he takes to the road in Budapest.
“I am confident of a positive result. I am hoping to run a PB. If everything goes well, I am positive of getting a PB,” Ncube said.
“From what we have done during the preparations and the work we have put in to correct my previous weaknesses, I think it’s possible to get a PB.
“We have been working on strength training. I can say from last year August, I have been including gym sessions, going for aerobics to have a balance because gym work is important mainly for power and strength, especially for marathon.
“Basing on the targets that we were getting from the coach, we would actually meet the targets be it on track or road. That’s why we are expecting positive results because those are the same splits we usually work with during the actual race,” said Ncube.
Ncube competed at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar together with Mpofu and he was placed 34 in 2hours 18minutes 42seconds.
However, he has made some positive progress since then and been improving on his time. His teammate, Mpofu also made remarkable progress, representing the country again at the 2022 World Championships in the United States where he finished 10th.
“The first time we went for the championships, I think looking at the period we qualified and the time that was left before the actual competition, I think it was one month or so. So we had no time to recover and fatigue affected us.
“We just went there to learn.
“So that experience really helped us this time around. We now know want to expect, we know the competition is very tough, we have to be well prepared, mentally, physically, I mean everything, the training has to balance.
“So, it’s an advantage to have the experience of having competed at such level especially for events like marathon.
“Personally, looking at his (Isaac) performance it motivates me because I know if I work hard, it’s possible to also get there,” said Ncube.
The marathon runners are scheduled to leave for Hungary tomorrow as their race is set for the weekend.
Chidzivo will be in action on Saturday in the women’s marathon before Ncube and Mpofu wrap-up Zimbabwe’s participation on Sunday in the men competition.
Makarawu is already in Budapest in preparation for his competition which starts with the heats on Wednesday.
Ncube said they are geared for the championships and believes the long camp they had together in Harare under the guidance of seasoned middle and long-distance coach Benson Chauke has helped them push each other and getting ready for the assignment.
“I can say we are all ready. The morale is high, we were just polishing up in the remaining few days. But everything is in place, we are all ready to go for the race. We are just waiting for Saturday and Sunday, for the competition”.
Chauke will lead the athletes when they fly out to Budapest.
Online Reporter