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Petros Kausiyo in Budapest, Hungary
ZIMBABWE’S Fortunate Chidzivo may have improved on her personal time but it was still not good enough to land her a credible finish in the gruelling World Athletics Championships, women’s marathon here yesterday.
Chidzivo took to the road in the morning along with 79 other starters but by the end of the 42km competition, which started and finished at Budapest’s Heroes Square, she finished a distant 55th in 2 hours 43 minutes 28 seconds.
Ethiopia’s Amane Shankule, running a season best time of 2.24.23s, won the race ahead of her compatriot Goytom Gebreslale (2.24.34) and Morocco’s Fatima Gardadi who made a storming sprint in the final two kilometres to claim bronze in a time of 2.25.17.
Fifteen of the women, who lined up for the start of the marathon could not bear the tough task and did not finish the race. For Chidzivo, who arrived in Budapest on a mission to try and run a qualification time for the 2024 Olympic Games, she will now have to live to fight another day to try and secure a ticket to Paris, France.
The 36 year-old was, however, satisfied at having bettered her personal best on her debut appearance at the World Championships in London in 2017, where she finished 74th and ran 2.58.51.
That time was Chidzivo’s season best that year. Yet Chidzivo had started off well in her opening 25km stretch yesterday before gradually fizzling out as it became a hotter and humid morning in Budapest.
She acknowledged after her race yesterday that despite being happy with the terrain, “it was tough out there.’’
“The struggle was real but I think I fought a good fight today. I am happy with the time because the first I attended the World Championships I finished in 2hrs 58 sec. Today it is a 2 hrs 48 sec, which is a huge improvement.
“I feel proud to represent the Zimbabwean women at the world stage, running and starting with the world beaters so I am happy with that.’’
She also spoke about how the race panned out for her with the humidity taking its toll on her as she recorded 40 degrees in body temperature by the time she crossed the finishing line.
“It was not easy and I had been doing well in the splits earlier on but as it became hotter and humid the splits continued to go down, I felt that I was slowing down but I said to myself I will have to push and finish this race… I am happy and I am not complaining.
“I am glad that despite the tough conditions I have improved on my time from the London Marathon.’’
Chidzivo will now have to wait until early next year to take another crack at qualification for the Olympics when she takes part in the Durban Marathon in South Africa.
“Next for me is to go home and rest.
“For this year I am done with marathon competition, I will now rest, start again and build for the next marathon in Durban.
“It’s now all about building on the qualifying marathon, I cannot continue to run marathons, my aim remains to try and work on improving my strength and speed in order to be ready and in good shape for the Durban international marathon next year,’’ she said.
Her coach Benson Chauke was by the roadside yesterday and felt Chidzivo had represented the country well.
Chauke, who has spent the last month working with the marathon runners, also urged for better investment into local athletes particularly from government, given the limited financial capacities of most Zimbabwe’s national sporting associations. Fortunate’s performance today, she ran a race and finished a race.
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The nation sends a team to go and represent them well and I think she represented the country well.,’’ Chauke said.
“The conditions of the weather and other things were there and they affected everyone and of course people would react to them differently.
“In her case I think her splits were fair to start with when the temperatures were cooler but as temperatures got higher she kind of slowed down and I think it probably better explained by her high ambient body temperature at the end of the race where he body temperature was over 40 degrees and the medical team were really worried about her.
“But she was in high spirits and she could speak as I communicated with her throughout the race, her body language was fine,’’ Chauke said.
The veteran coach said he was also aware of the huge expectations that had been placed on Chidzivo to excel despite the dwindling number of female marathon runners the country is experiencing.
“Of course as a nation people would have wanted time, people would have wanted a good position but we live to of fight another day, we did our best and we know what we did in our preparation.
“Building a base for marathon needs four months and when she was preparing for this one, there are things that were already in place and I was not there, so we need to have a very strong foundation as we build our base.’’
Chauke added that he would review the marathon with Chidzivo to look areas she needs to work as she reboots ahead of the Durban competition next year.
“We will need to sit down to discuss with her that as she starts another block she might now need to work on areas to complement that which we had done.
“But I am happy with her and I am quite positive that we can put a strong base and mount another challenge for Paris 2024.’’
With Chidzivo having done her part, the baton is now onto the pair of veteran Isaac Mpofu and Ngonidzashe Ncube, who will feature in the men’s marathon this morning and complete Team Zimbabwe’s participation at the global showpiece that has been attracting huge crowds in Budapest.
Mpofu finished 10th at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in the United States last year.
Bongani Ndlovu