tawandamusarurwa
Online Reporter
ZIMBABWE sprint king Ngoni Makusha has set his sights on a podium finish at the Africa Senior Athletics Championships, which are set for Mauritius in June.
Originally scheduled for Cameroon, the competition was moved by the Confederation of African Athletic (CAA) to Cote d’Or National Sports Complex, St Pierre in Mauritius from June 8 to June 12.
Makusha, expected to be Zimbabwe’s flag bearer at the competition, plans to return from the Indian Ocean Island with at least a medal.
“I am targeting the Africa Senior Athletics Championships. If only I can get a medal there and also reach some personal bests records in the 100 and 200 metres, and also the World Championship,” he said.
“I have been off the radar and I have been concentrating on my training and let the performance do the talking for me, but training has been going well so far.
“I have learnt a lot from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and I intend to use those lessons.
“It takes years of hard work, consistency and believing in myself to be able to get the most out of myself.
“I have changed the way I train by copying some of the things that I wasn’t doing. I noticed that I wasn’t doing as much speedy work and technical work as I should have.
“I am focusing more on the technical part of it.”
Makusha represented Zimbabwe at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021, where he failed to reach the semi-finals after he had won his race in the heats.
“I wouldn’t say anything went wrong, I did what I could at that time and that’s how races go.
“I cannot always have it in my way. What I would say is it was a huge learning curve though I now know what is expected.”
The athlete is the national record holder over 100m and the long jump with 9,89 seconds and 8,40 metres, respectively.
Both performances were achieved during the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, US, where he completed a 100m and long jump double.
Online Reporter