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ZIMBABWE Cricket chairman, Tavengwa Mukuhlani, has been named as a member of the International Cricket Council task force spearheading a bid for cricket’s inclusion in the Olympic Games from 2028.
The five-member ICC Olympic Working Group, which is led by England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Ian Watmore, also includes ICC independent director Indra Nooyi, ICC Associate member director and vice president of the Asian Cricket Council Mahinda Vallipuram and USA Cricket chairman Paraag Marathe.
Mukuhlani also serves on the ICC’s audit and membership committees. The ICC’s bid for the sport to be included in the Olympic Games for the first time since, 1900, comes just days after the conclusion of the Tokyo Games.
“Our sport is united behind this bid, and we see the Olympics as a part of cricket’s long-term future,” ICC chairman, Greg Barclay, said in a statement.
“We have more than a billion fans globally and almost 90 percent of them want to see cricket at the Olympics.
“We believe cricket would be a great addition to the Olympic Games, but we know it won’t be easy to secure our inclusion as there are so many other great sports out there wanting to do the same.
“But, we feel now is the time to put our best foot forward and show what a great partnership cricket and the Olympics could be.”
The ICC said their “primary target” was being added to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
It would end a 128-year wait for the sport to be included, following their only previous appearance in the 1900 Games, in Paris.
The sport will feature as a women’s event in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Barclay says the “sport is united behind this bid” and that the Olympics are part of cricket’s “long-term future”.
“Clearly cricket has a strong and passionate fanbase, particularly in South Asia where 92% of our fans come from, whilst there are also 30 million cricket fans in the USA.
“The opportunity for those fans to see their heroes competing for an Olympic medal is tantalising,” said Barclay.
Meanwhile, ZC have congratulated Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister, Kirsty Coventry, on receiving a prestigious national honour, the Order of the Star of Zimbabwe Gold Medal, in recognition of her sporting excellence.
She received the special award from President Mnangagwa during the National Heroes Day commemoration in Harare on Monday.
‘’With seven Olympic medals, two of them gold, Minister Coventry holds the joint-most individual medals in women’s swimming in Olympic history and remains Africa’s most decorated Olympian,’’ the ZC said in a statement.
‘‘Her conferment with the Order of the Star of Zimbabwe Gold Medal came less than a month after she was elected as a full independent member of the International Olympic Committee board.
‘‘She had served as a member of the IOC Athletes Commission since 2013 and a member of its executive board since 2018.’’
Mukuhlani said it was a befitting honour for Coventry.
“Minister Coventry was a phenomenal athlete who accomplished great feats and her latest recognition by President Mnangagwa, coming soon after she was elected as a full member of the IOC board, is very special and well deserved,” he said.
“We send our heartfelt congratulations to her and wish her the best in all her endeavours.”
Coventry is Africa’s most decorated Olympian and in December last year she was named the African Female Swimmer of the Millennium by Swimming World.
She was named as the African Female Swimmer of the Millennium ahead of Egypt’s Farida Osman and Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa.
Coventry made her debut at the Olympic Games in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, and although she did not win a medal, there was something special about her, as she became the country’s first swimmer to reach the semi-finals, at the global showcase.
She returned to the world’s largest sporting show piece in 2004, where she won three medals, including a gold in the 200m backstroke.
She won silver in the 100m backstroke and bronze in 200m individual medley.
It was the biggest achievement by any local sportsperson at the Olympics, adding three more medals for the country, whose first medal at the Games was a gold, won by the women’s field hockey team in 1980 in Moscow, Russia.
Four years down the line, Coventry stood out for Zimbabwe again, claiming four medals — one gold and three silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
She defended her gold in 200m backstroke.
The three silver medals came from 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley and 100m backstroke to take her tally to seven at the Olympics.
Her exploits in the pool earned the country international recognition and brought joy for the nation.
At the World Championships, she won gold in 2005 in 100m and 200m backstroke.
She again won gold in 200m at the 2009 championships.
In 2005, Coventry won silver in 200m and 400m individual medley.
It was the same story in 2007, walking away with a silver medal in the 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley, as well as in 2009, in the 400m individual medley.
Online Reporter