Innocent Kurira — Sports Reporter
TOP Zimbabwe long distance runner Isaac Mpofu has set his sights on upcoming local athletics events as he steps up preparations for his Paris Olympic Games participation in August.
Mpofu watched the Baldwin Holdings Inter-Provincial Track and Field Championships at White City on Saturday.
Mpofu says he will be taking part in the Tanganda Half Marathon on June 30 as well as the Econet Victoria Falls marathon on July 7.
"In terms of my preparations everything is well in place. I have been putting in the work as the countdown to the Olympics continues. As part of my preparations l will be taking part in the Victoria Falls and Tanganda Marathons.
This should give me and my coaches an opportunity to see where we are in terms of preparations and areas we may need to work on. Right now, my training is focusing more on the event specific workouts," said Mpofu.
Some of the elite athletes whom Mpofu will face in the Paris Olympics include veterans Eliud Kipchoge, who will headline Kenya's marathon team.
Kipchoge broke the world record in 2018 and 2022.
He is a two-time Olympic champion.
Mpofu, the first Zimbabwean athlete to punch his ticket to this year's Olympics, has made significant strides as a marathon runner over the last few years. His build-up to Paris included competing at the Kazungula Marathon in February and he won the race.
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He then represented the country at the African Games in Accra, Ghana in March and won a bronze medal in the 21.1km event.
He crossed the finishing line in third position in a time of 1 hour five minutes 58 seconds.
Mpofu was placed sixth at the Boston Marathon regarded as, one of the top and most demanding races in the world on April 15.
He will not be the only Zimbabwean at the Olympics as Rutendo Nyahora was given a wild card entry by World athletics to participate in the 42.2km race.
Already qualified for the sprints is Tapiwanashe Makarawu, who has run 19.93 seconds 200m.
Another 200m sprinter, who qualified, is Makanakaishe Charamba who qualified with a time of 19.93 seconds.
They were both within reach of the qualifying standard which is a flat 20 seconds.
