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Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
AFTER a disappointing start to their participation at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships on Tuesday, Zimbabwe coach Briad Nhubu is hoping for a better outcome today from his sprinters when they go into the 200m men’s heats.
The five-day meet being held in Lima, Peru, enters Day Three today with David Nyamufarira back in action for the men’s 200m heats.
He will be joined by Caledon Ruwende, who also booked his place in the same event during the qualification period.
Nyamufarira will be under some pressure as he seeks to redeem himself after an early exit in the men’s 100m on Tuesday.
He failed to advance to the semi-final when finishing a distant sixth in heat four, in 10.73 seconds.
It was the same story for Panashe Nhenga, who finished in position eight in 10.95 seconds in heat six.
As the team shifts focus to today’s 200m, with Nyamufarira and Ruwende competing, Nhubu said they have been working on the mental aspect to ensure the athletes are fully focused on the upcoming race.
“They have rested well and I am trying to toughen their mental strength by encouraging them to sober up and forget about what happened (in the 100m races) and focus on the event at hand.
“He (Nyamufarira) will be very fine and he is showing a good attitude towards the next task because he feels he has to correct what didn’t work out well in the 100m.”
Nhubu, who is the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe youth and junior head coach said various factors affected the athletes’ performance although he remains optimistic.
Both Nhenga and Nyamufarira have recently just moved to the United States on athletics scholarships.
“The boys have tried but couldn’t reach our expectation and their usual times, which I could associate with several factors.
“Among others, I think of the issue of fatigue, acclimatisation, and lack of camping.
“Our athletes have been chasing two birds. They wanted to be in scholarship arrangements and also World Athletics preparations.
“So, balancing these two has impacted preparation plans from an association point of view,” said Nhubu.
Zimbabwe will also compete in the 4x100m relay tomorrow.
The relay team will be made up of Brendon Muvimi, Nhenga, Nyamufarira, and Ruwende.
Nhubu noted that his athletes needed to brace for another tough time on the track given the level of competition at this meet.
“The other countries are doing well. Some have athletes who participated in Paris, so it’s not going to be easy.
“However, like any battle, the war is won on the battlefield. We are ready to put up a good fight regardless of whatever surrounds us.
“We believe in ourselves so anything can happen in our favour,” said Nhubu.
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