Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
ISAAC Mpofu and Tendai Zimuto, Zimbabwe’s leading marathon runners, have qualified for the World Athletics Championships.
The World Championships will be hosted by Japan’s city of Tokyo in August.
A delighted National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president, Tendai Tagara confirmed on Thursday that the two great athletes had made the cut for the Japan event.
“The closing window is over, what is left is the 800, 1 500m and field events. Marathon qualifying by time ended on 5 May. After the end of the marathons qualifying window they publish all the athletes that have qualified, its either you qualify by time or by ranking. Our boys qualified by ranking. We are expecting more athletes to qualify by mid-August,” said Tagara.
The duo has run the best times in recent times in the marathon event and will be worthy representatives.
Mpofu finished 19th at the Paris Olympics last year.
Born on August 20, 1988, Mpofu has steadily risen through the ranks to become Zimbabwe’s leading marathon runner. He holds the national marathon record of 2 hours 06 minutes 48 seconds. This was achieved at the Valencia Marathon in December 2022.
His international experience is extensive as well as impressive having finished 10th at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, United States of America where he clocked 2 hours 07 minutes 56 seconds, 16th at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest with a time of 2 hours 11 minutes 33 seconds.
Mpofu is now a recognisable figure in world marathon running.
Zimuto is part of the country’s rising talents.
Born on July 25, 1995, Zimuto boasts a personal best of 2 hours 09 minutes 44 seconds at the Amsterdam Marathon, when he secured a top10 finish last year.
Already Zimbabwe has two other athletes that have already made the grade to Tokyo, Makanakaishe Charamba and Tapiwanashe Makarawu both 200m sprinters.
They boast of the best indoor 200m time for this year of 20.13 seconds.
With four already guaranteed for the World Championships, Tagara is confident that more could make the grade.
The qualification of Mpofu and Zimuto for the World Championships in Tokyo marks a significant milestone for Zimbabwean athletics.
Their achievements reflect the effectiveness of the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe’s (NAAZ) development programmes and the athletes’ unwavering commitment to excellence.
Sidumisile Mabena