Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
NATIONAL Athletics Association of Zimbabwe head coach for youth and junior teams Briad Nhubu has underscored the importance of junior policy development following an impressive show by the athletics team at the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games in Namibia.
The team amassed 35 medals — six gold, 17 silver and 12 bronze in the track and field events.
They returned home last Friday.
The first gold for the team came from Tulange Mudenda in the girls 5 000m on the first day of athletics competition.
It was a clean sweep with Ratidzo Mutepfe and Thelma Murando settling for silver and bronze respectively.
The good start proved to be a confidence booster for the team with rising sprinter Trey Chimunya weighing in with two gold medals in the 100m and 200m.
Leeroy Chishaya got a gold in long jump, while Martha Chipuriro also picked gold in the 1 500m and the men’s 4x400m relay team was not to be outdone, emerging tops to add another gold for Team Zimbabwe.
The relay team consisted of Cryson Kunorubwe, Ropafadzo Mzondo, Gift Khumalo and Nenyasha Chihora.
Nhubu attributed the team’s achievements to the local athletics mother body’s junior policy and the support from various stakeholders, including Sports and Recreation Commission and Zimbabwe Olympic Committee.
“My impression is that our selection has been done fairly.
“We have managed to spread our tentacles to all eligible athletes across the country. The athletics coaches had worked very hard to prepare athletes to achieve the competitive levels.
“NAAZ Junior policy, which is now receiving tremendous support from the Government, cooperates, SRC and ZOC is a wonderful paradigm shift as we now notice huge steps drifting towards podium performance.
“So, generally, I was highly elated with the performance,” said Nhubu.
One of the major highlights was the girls’ performance in 5 000m.
“The clean sweep laid down confidence and motivation for the rest of the events that followed. It inspired and gave all athletes the zeal to keep pushing for medals.
“The punch was the deepest cut that was sealed with a wonderful wrap-up of events with the 4x400m gold.”
There has been notable progress in athletics, with Zimbabwean athletes posting competitive results at various levels of competition.
Nhubu believes there is still more to come from athletics and said their long term athletes development plan is now paying dividends as several young athletes continue to rise.
“The future of athletics in Zimbabwe is very bright and our LTAD Plan as a national strategic plan is now beginning to pay dividends. The fact that our direct products are hovering around the top world performers is clear testimony of a very bright future on the world stage,” Nhubu said.
Athletics at the Games also included Special Olympics and visually impaired teams competing in their respective competitions.
The Special Olympics got eight medals made up of five gold, one silver and two bronze while the visually impaired team also had a positive outing when bagging six medals — two gold, one silver and three bronze.
The athletics Region 5 Games team returned home last Friday and some of the athletes are proceeding to Nigeria for the Confederation of African Athletics Combined Under-18/Under-20 Championships.
Zimbabwe are fielding over 40 athletes and the first batch was scheduled to leave in the early hours of this morning while the second group leaves just before midday.
