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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
SOME Zimbabwean athletes were arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday after a fight broke out as the team, which took part at the African Games, was on its way home.
It was not immediately clear what sparked the fight. Team Zimbabwe deputy chef de mission Joe Rugwete told The Herald that a fistfight broke out between some athletes in Nairobi.
“Although we did not have big problems, our biggest problem happened today (yesterday) at Nairobi Airport,” said Rugwete. “There were some athletes, our athletes, who fought among themselves.
“We were supposed to connect from Nairobi to Johannesburg and I had to remain in Nairobi because they were arrested and I had to run around.
“I went to the Embassy for assistance and they were released because I could not leave my athletes there. We had to rebook our flight and those costs could have been avoided.
“The soccer team refused to wear the kit we bought for them and were wearing suits by another sponsor.
“Inasmuch as we have no problems with national associations’ sponsorship, when it comes to these Games they are fully funded by the Government.”
Rugwete said there was need for Zimbabwe to invest in athletes if the country is to make a big impact at the continental event.
Zimbabwe finished in 12th place out of 43 countries that took part after winning nine medals.
The Games were held in Congo Brazzaville from September 4 to 19 with participants competing in 22 sporting codes.
Zimbabwe had 63 athletes taking part in athletics, beach volleyball, cycling, football, gymnastics, judo, karate, swimming, taekwondo, tennis and sport for people living with disability.
And they managed to win nine medals, three gold and six bronze, which came from swimming, sport for people living with disability and tennis.
Rugwete said the team did well considering the circumstances surrounding their preparations for the Games.
“Look, under the circumstances, they did very well, the reason being we did not invest in preparing the team for competition.
“The investment that was made was for the team to go and participate in the Games. It’s better to go with a smaller team but a team that is well prepared.
“There is also need to work with national associations, some of them when they got there, some of the rules had changed meaning they were not keeping up with their new rules.
“We need to invest in national associations, they need to compete in international tournaments in between the Games so that they are up to date.
“We also need to invest in officials, referees and judges. We may have athletes doing well but we are disadvantaged in several ways, first of all in decision making on the technical side, and finally in Africa there is still that problem of biased officiating.
“So, as long as you don’t have a say in decision making, they will just eliminate you,” said Rugwete.
Kirsty Coventry, the swimming queen, won all the gold medals.
“I am really worried that all the gold medals we got came from Kirsty Coventry and she has retired (from the African Games), so we are saying 2019 where are we going to get gold medals if we do not invest now.
“It’s crucial that we start to set up teams now, so that we focus on those people and improve their performance because we may not get a gold medal in 2019 because all (gold medals) we have now are from Kirsty,” said Rugwete.
Coventry won gold in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley.
The swimming star won gold in the same events at the 2007, 2011 and 2015 Games, which were her last Games as she waved goodbye to the African Games.
The 4x100m medley mixed relay swimming team also weighed in with a bronze medal when they finished third behind winners Egypt and South Africa.
The other four bronze medals came from the tennis team with Mark Fynn and Valeria Bhunu getting medals in the men and women’s singles events.
Bhunu went on to scoop two more bronze together with Pauline Chawafambira in the women’s doubles and team event which featured the top four countries.
Laina Sithole got a bronze medal in the 100m T13 athletics for the visually impaired.
For Sithole it was a good improvement after finishing fourth in the 2011 Games.
In 2011, Zimbabwe finished on position 14th with 15 medals, including six gold.
Although the team improved in terms of the overall position, from number 14 to 12 this year, the 2011 performance was better in terms of medals.
Online Reporter