Leeds, England — FOR the past three weeks I was glued on TV watching the London 2012 Olympic Games and indeed we witnessed some of the best athletes on earth reaching dizzy heights of excellent competency in various sporting events. I was particularly impressed with athletics, swimming, basketball and football, the show belonged to none other than the "magical" Usain Bolt who has re-written the history books by defending his records.

Watching other top athletes like Yohan Blake and David Rudisha, I quickly noticed that they all hail from typical Third World countries and what a huge contrast with the performances on the field with their counter-parts who mostly came from well developed countries.

By failing to inspire and motivate kids and the young generation to fully participate in sports through a competitive Physical Education Curriculum, academies, local council youth centres and well run various sports set-ups, our failures do not augur well for the national image in terms of international sporting competitions.

Jamaicans, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Kenyans and Ugandans have demonstrated that being a resident near Lake Victoria or Montego Bay is not an obstacle, in fact, it is a source of inspiration and motivation to prove ones prowess at such global sporting competitions.

In Zimbabwe, the tag that we are a sporting nation is wide off the mark, we are good spectators and critics and it ends there.

What we have in abundance in Third World countries is untapped talent, massive numbers of young kids who are have great potential to surpass the current established sporting records in major sporting events if as organised communities, society and government at large, we seriously take a positive step towards uplifting their needs.

Phillip Zulu is a Zimbabwean soccer coach who is based in Leeds in the United Kingdom.