Athletics Tanzania (AT) has called on local athletes to focus on for the 2012 Olympic Games qualifying events.With the summer event looming, national middle distance star Zakia Mrisho is the only local runner who has qualified for the multi-sport event.

AT president, Francis John said on Wednesday that it was high time they strived to secure slots in the Games scheduled for July 27 to August 12 in London. "It's time our athletes focused on the London 2012 Olympics qualifying events because the games are only five months away," said John.

He named this month's Kilimanjaro Marathon as one of the competitions the athletes should honour to fine tune for the qualifying events."For those striving to secure qualifying marks for the London 2012 Games, the Kilimanjaro Marathon can serve as beneficial warm up for the qualifying competitions because it features elite runners " he insisted.

Since its inception, the Kilimanjaro Marathon has been featuring a host of foreign runners, including Kenyans who are among the most feared runners in Africa and the world as a whole.