No medals, but plenty of big hearts

Tinashe Kusema
AFTER leaving amid pomp and fanfare, Team Zimbabwe returned from the Olympic Games last week on a low key note with chef de mission Titus Zvomuya saying every athlete gave their all in Rio de Janeiro. “While we didn’t come home with any medals, the entire team played with heart and now it is our duty to ensure that we find ways of preparing them better for such games,” said Zvomuya soon after the team’s return on Thursday.

Zvomuya believes the country will continue to play second fiddle at international competitions until sports associations begin taking more scientific approaches to sports development and administration.

“One of the areas we can start with is by coming up with a more scientific approach to the way we administer sport. We can do this by opening up and investing more in institutions that nurture and support athletes at a high performance level.

“We also have to bring on board institutions like universities that have a sport science background, to support all these teams and athletes. It is an area I realised we greatly lagging behind in during the Olympic Games,” he said.

Zvomuya also reflected on his first chef de mission experience.

“For me leading the team as the chef de mission in Rio was an exciting experience,” he said. “Ordinarily, I would have loved to continue leading the team, when we travel to Japan for the 2020 games, but that matter is out of my hands.

“That said, I believe I still have a big role to play, in terms of imparting my knowledge and experiences at home, to the nation and to whoever replaces me come Tokyo 2020.

“I think the most important thing for us, as we prepare for the next games, is that we have to appoint a Chef de mission as soon as possible.

“This will enable the individual to start preparing and getting acquainted with the team as soon as possible. I don’t believe the role of the chef de mission is to just to administer the athletes and the officials at the games; it’s a process that should start four years earlier with the individual working closely and getting acquainted with all the teams, athletes and sport associations.”