tawandamusarurwa
Online Reporter
ONE of the big stories to emerge from World Athletics’ announcement for the qualifying standard for the 2024 Summer Olympics earlier this week, is marathon runner Isaac Mpofu becoming the first Zimbabwean to punch his ticket to the Paris 2024.
It is a feat that has been hailed by National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (NAAZ) president, Tendai Tagara, who has high hopes of the country sending a full team for the long-distance and marathon times.
The NAAZ president said while the standard times are a bit high, they are achievable and the rest of the country’s athletes should draw inspiration from Mpofu.
“What our athletics need to do now is work hard, extremely hard that is, and make sure that they make those qualifying standards.
“As an association, we are very happy that we already have one athlete that has qualified for the Olympic Games, and hope to have more athletes join him, especially in the long-distance races,” he said.
“Mpofu making the grade just proves that these times are achievable, and we already have a couple of athletes that could make the grade sooner rather than later.”
On Tuesday, World Athletics announced the automatic qualifying standards for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The standards are believed to be the toughest ever for a global championship, as World Athletics is aiming for half of the entrants to come via the standard while the other is to be determined by world ranking.
Of particular interest to the Zimbabwe team are the 100, 200 and 400-metre times, which are set at 10.00, 20.16 and 45.00 seconds, respectively.
The triple-jump distance has been set at 17.22 metres, while the marathon time has been set at two hours, 26 minutes and 50 seconds.
Mpofu made the cut courtesy of his exploits at the 2022 Valencia Marathon that was held earlier this month, where he finished a credible 12th, with a time of two hours, six minutes and 48 seconds.
The event fell within the qualifying window, which is between November 1, 2022 and April 30, 2024.
Athletes will be able to qualify in two ways for the 2024 Olympic Games, with half coming through the qualification places based on achieving the entry standard for an event within the qualification period.
The other way will be based on the World Athletics Ranking within the ranking period.
The qualification and ranking period for all individual events – other than the 10 000m, marathon, combined events and race walks – will be between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.
For the 10 000m, combined events, race walks and relays, the qualification and ranking period will be between December 31, 2022 and June 30, 2024, while for the marathon the period will be between November 1, 2022 and 30 April 2024.
All performances must be achieved during competitions organised or authorised by World Athletics, its area associations, or its national federations in accordance with its rules and published on the World Athletics Global Calendar.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter