daniel chigunwe
Ellina Mhlanga in Douala, Cameroon
TEAM Zimbabwe coach Lisimati Phakamile has expressed disappointment over the disorganisation of the ongoing African Senior Championships in Douala, Cameroon.
The meet has been marred with disorganisation, delays in the start of events, and release of results among other problems.
The competition is serving as a qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The qualification window closes on June 30, which is just a few days away.
“I think our organisation has failed to take up this competition as a very big competition in Africa, our final and main tournament for Olympic qualification.
“I think it’s a dismal performance on the side of officiating and result management or should I say data management.
“We have had complaints in all results that have come in, in all events, be it field, be it track. There are always glitches and technical complications.
“This has got a very big and negative impact on our team’s performance considering that we had brought our Olympics hopefuls and they only have seven days left to qualify and the last competition that is there, seven days before qualification closes is in a mess.”
So far Zimbabwe have sprinter Tapiwanashe Makarawu reaching the 100m finals, long jumper Tafadzwa Chikomba also in the final while Donald Chiyangwa finished eighth in the 400m final.
Makarawu placed sixth in the final on Saturday with a time of 10.25 seconds. He had the second fastest time in the semi-finals when winning heat two in 10.06 seconds.
Chikomba finished sixth in the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.59m.
Chiyangwa was expected to go for the 400m final late yesterday.
“My team was quite sharp and my team was ready to perform and I was very hopeful that we will get athletes impressing or even picking medals and bettering their PBs.
“Unfortunately, all this is slowly but surely getting out of hand.
“But from the chat that I had with my team, they are still focused, they are still dedicated to performing. They are still hopeful that they will make the time.
“It’s unfortunate for those that have been affected especially Tapiwa in his 100m. He wanted to qualify for both 100m and 200m, of which 200m he is sorted. But the 100m was his main business here.
“Unfortunately, the 3, 4-hour delay did affect his performance . . . You can’t be kept in the warm-up area or the call room for two or three hours waiting for a race and suddenly the race doesn’t start,” said Phakamile.
Although he is disappointed with Saturday’s events, Makarawu is staying positive.
“I think everything happens for a reason. God has a plan for everything.
“I wanted to qualify for the 100m, for Paris. But God has another plan. I went out there and did my best but it didn’t work out. But I just thank God for the result out there.
“That was close to Paris because I just needed like 10.00 to qualify for the Olympics. So I was close. I thought I was going to get it in the finals but God had another plan, so I will just accept it.
“I ran well in the semis. I ran the second fastest time in the semis and I was so confident that I was going to be in the top three.
“But when the time for the final came, they delayed us for about two-and-half hours. We were just waiting, we were warming up and cooling down, warming up and cooling down.
“So, most of the athletes who were out there warming up for the 100m final were now frustrated and disappointed. So we just had to run for the fact that we had to run the final.
“But it was a disappointment and at the same time when we started the 100m final, there was a technical fault, which is something that put me back.
“I had to relax in the blocks, so that’s what happened but I was hoping to get a podium finish in the 100m final.
“But it didn’t go that way but I am not giving any excuses I will just accept it as it is because I lost and it is what it is. But I thank God for the result though.”
Makarawu is now shifting his focus to the 200m event. He has already qualified for the Olympics in this event.
Other athletes still in competition are triple jumper Chengetayi Mapaya, who is chasing Olympic qualification, Ashley Kamangirira in the women’s 400m hurdles as well as Ngoni Makusha in 200m. Zimbabwe are looking at fielding the 4x400m relay team.
Online Reporter