ZOC holds seminar for sports journalists

A two-day Zimbabwe Olympic Committee organised Sports Journalists Forum ended at the ZOC offices in Belvedere, Harare, yesterday.
Attended by sports journalists from almost all media houses in the country, the forum covered a number of topics like sports and science, doping in sport, journalist ethics, sports journalism and the digital media.

Speakers at the forum included ZOC president Admire Masenda, ZOC board member in charge of marketing Hugo Ribatika, the organisation’s chief executive officer, Anna Mguni, Sports and Recreation Commission director-general Charles Nhemachena, Star FM sports boss Steve Vickers, Zimbabwe Warriors team doctor Nic Munyonga, Judo Association of Zimbabwe president Dibbie Jeans, Alpha Media Holding online editor John Mokwetsi, Herald sports editor Collin Matiza who has covered the Olympics four times and Wellington Nyoni from Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.

Rower Mickeen Thornycroft, one of Zimbabwe’s representatives at the 2012 London Olympics where she finished 14 out of 28 in singles and cross country athlete Abel Chimukoko got to relive their experiences at the biggest multi-disciplinary sporting showcase in the world.

The 27-year-old Thornycroft is now targeting making a final appearance by qualifying for the 2016 edition of the Games to be staged in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while she is based in Zimbabwe. She is due to participate in the African Championships in Algeria next week where she will get an opportunity to see where she stands in terms of fulfilling her dream of booking her place in Brazil.

Thornycroft has to finish in the top nine at the World Rowing Championships to be held in France next year where if she fails to achieve that her last opportunity would be at the African Championships in Tunisia in October next year where she has to be in the top four.

One of the athletes getting financial support from ZOC, Thornycroft revealed that her desire is to develop professional rowing in Zimbabwe.

Mguni said the reason for holding the forum was because the media is a key stakeholder at ZOC and they wanted to find out from a journalist perspective why most Olympic sports were not getting much coverage in Zimbabwe.

In his closing remarks before handing out certificates of involvement to the participants, Masenda expressed his desire for journalists to play a huge role in the transformation of sports to a higher level in Zimbabwe.