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NYASHA Sithole leads the Chipinge contingent to the Bulawayo NAAZ selection meeting for the Youth Olympics in Colombia and the All-Africa Games to be held in Congo-Brazaville later this year.
She romped home in pole position but fell short by two seconds of the qualifying time. She clocked 1.05.55, yet the qualifying time is 1.02.30 in the 400m hurdles competition.
Born in the remote Muumbe in Chipinge District, the athletics prodigy is on a developmental path, and according to her coach Pumulani Dube, the future is bright for Nyasha Sithole as she still has three more years to compete within the junior ranks.
“Nyasha is still developing and is yet to reach her top form. Remember in March, she was doing 1.10.64 according to NASH hand timing. Then in April, she went a step up at Hillcrest, where she clocked 1.09.12 electronic timing. Now, she clocked 1.05.55 using Fully Automatic Timing. We have come a long way and as a coach I am just excited and happy for her. Our target is 1.02.30 by August this year,’’ Pumulani Dube said.
Some may ask, who is Nyasha Sithole?
“I am a 16-year-old girl from Matsuro Village in Muumbe under Chief Musikavanhu. I am the first born. My father Elijah Pindu Sithole works at Greenfuel as an accounts clerk and he used to be a long distance runner. My mother Shirley Sithole nee Simango, has always supported me to be an athlete. I am in Form Two at Chibuwe High School, although last year I was at Muumbe Secondary School,’’ said the soft-spoken athlete.
She rose to prominence last year when she scooped a gold medal at both provincial and national NASH 400 metres hurdles competitions and that gave her a ticket to travel to Mauritius for the African Youth Championships.
The flight to Mauritius was a first for her.
“I was excited just before departure. Obviously, I had never been in an aeroplane before. Unfortunately, I came agonisingly fourth in Mauritius. Clearly, I felt I had betrayed my school, parents and my country after I failed to get a medal.
“I joined Team Zimbabwe in Johannesburg for the COSSASA Games in Maseru, Lesotho. It wasn’t easy to compete against the best in Southern Africa, but with God, nothing is impossible.
“I won a silver medal in the 400m hurdles and bronze in the ordinary 400m. Words can’t describe my feelings at making Zimbabwe proud.’’
Dube, a certified athletics coach from NUST identified her at the zonal camp meeting at Manzvire Secondary School.
“Nyasha was a Form One pupil at Muumbe Secondary School last year when she joined the zonal athletics group at Manzvire Secondary School.
“She was then a 100m sprinter. I do talent identification for N1 Club la Athletics that is based at Manzvire Secondary School. Today’s sport is more scientific than training. After taking her through Kinanthropometry, Testing and Sprint Biomechanics, I discovered she was more of a long hurdler than a sprinter,’’ said Dube.
Sithole said: “My coach, Dube advised me to attempt the 400m hurdle event in the Chipinge NASH Athletics championships in March 2014 while I was comfortable with the sprint event. The coach adopted me in his N1 Club after the sports director Andrew Gwenzi and John Khosa the Muumbe head gave him their blessings. Everyone was happy when I scooped gold at Avontuur, Buhera and Peterhouse.’’
Then, she encountered financial problems to realise her dream of flying to Mauritius where the African Youth Championships were going to be held.
The school had facilitated her obtaining a passport but airfares proved to be a headache.
“It is in order to say hats off to the newspaper, The Manica Post, for highlighting Nyasha’s plight to the rest of the country. As a club, we had marketed her ability to the national team youth coach Brian Nhubu to help her reach the stars. NASH intervened through the HIC Athletics, Needmore Maposa, who paid for her ticket to the African Youth Championships in Mauritius. Moreover, Chibuwe High School offered her a scholarship,” Dube explained.
How does the coach interact with her when he is 30 kilometres away from Chibuwe?
“I sent training programmes to Chibuwe High School where she is based. I would like to thank Sigauke, who stays with her for her professional approach to issues related to athletics.
“However, Nyasha’s challenge is that she doesn’t eat beef or any four-legged animal meat yet that is a valuable source of protein, a vital aspect in an athlete’s diet. Thus, she eats white meat, chunks and green material. She soldiers on, anyway,’’ the coach said.
Nyasha Sithole is a girl who may scale dizzy heights in athletics.
“I do jog at 60-80 percent threshold in the morning. In the afternoon, I carry out a specific training programme that the coach has asked me to follow,” she said.
John Khosa, her former head at Muumbe Secondary School, feels that Nyasha Sithole’s exploits in athletics shows that talent does not have boundaries.
“I am very excited about the turn of events. My appreciation is extended to NASH Chipinge and in particular to the Head-In-Charge of Athletics, who facilitated her trip to Mauritius. Of course, The Manica Post did a sterling job in publicising her plight. My wish is for her to get to the top of her game.
“We wish her well in her endeavours. Needmore Maposa helped out the athlete when everyone thought the flight to Mauritius was doomed,’’ Khosa said.
Nyasha was elated with her recent performance in Bulawayo but promised to work harder.
“I am happy that I have struck gold although I am disappointed that I was unable to qualify for Colombia where I would have rubbed shoulders with the best in the world.
“However, that is how it is and life has to go on. I hope to continue improving my time as the coach tells me time and again,” she said.
Online Reporter