Vusumuzi Dube
Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
WHERE there is a will there is a way!
After quietly heading for the 19th African Cycling Confederation (CAC) Africa Road Championships which took place in Accra, Ghana from 8 to 13 February with a team of 10 riders and three officials, little did they know they were going to make this sport loving nation smile.
It being a self-funded trip, to show their patriotism, never ending love for this tea pot shaped country, three athletes from Team Zimbabwe were able to do so while the rest were funded by Davis Muhambi led Cycling Zimbabwe (CZ) through associated private sector companies mainly Praise Petroleum and Unimills. Other companies like Little Active Wear, Greens Supermarket, Broadhaven Construction, City Link buses, Super Fuels, Energy Park and Raven Energy supported indirectly through affiliate teams.
It was a largest delegation sent to continentals in Zimbabwean history and the cycling meet featured a total of 19 countries that also included the hosts Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Namibia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Angola, Cape Varde, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Mauritius, Guinea, Egypt, Sao Tome and Principe and Ivory Coast.
It was a journey made on earth and perfected in heaven for Zimbabwe as they came out third best side to scoop bronze and 150 Union Cycliste International (UCI) points. That was not a mean achievement as according to Muhambi those were “the most UCI points and these points are used for Olympic and World Cycling Championship Qualifiers.”
Zimbabwe took part in the team time trial, individual time trial, mixed relay and road races. In the men elite (140km) category, Zimbabwe was represented by Andrew Chikwaka, Rodrick Shumba and Solomon Mugavazi. The country had Helen Mitchell, Skye Davidson, Priscilla Mashamba and Elsie Mahumbe competing in the women’s elite (96km.)
Lovemore Ntini and Nesta Charles featured in the Under 18 (men) and Under 16 (men) classes respectively while Jessica Fuller competed in the Under-18 women group and she did not disappoint.
She won a bronze medal and came out fifth in the road race.
Muhambi could not resist mentioning that Team Zimbabwe took to the start line in the country’s first ever entry for the Team Time Trial with Mitchell, Mahumbe and Mashamba riding our beloved Zimbabwe into the history books.
“These three amazing ladies became the first Zimbabwe Women’s Team Time Trial ever and gained 15 valuable UCI points for our country,” he said about an event where there was a largest pool of women, juniors and youth Zimbabwean representatives.
As they will always say, where there is a will there is a way, the top-drawer performances from Team Zimbabwe, saw the country move 52 places up the world rankings. Put simply, Zimbabwe is now ranked 74 ahead of highly fancied nations that include Mexico, Namibia, South Korea and Jamaica. — @FungaiMuderere
Bongani Ndlovu