Ellina Mhlanga — Senior Sports Reporter
NATIONAL Athletics Association of Zimbabwe director of coaching Lisimati Phakamile says the association had to take into account several factors when selecting the team to represent Zimbabwe at the upcoming Africa Senior Championships.
NAAZ, who are still looking at boosting the numbers of qualifications for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, yesterday announced their team for the continental event that is due to take place from June 21 to 26 in Douala, Cameroon.
Phakamile said they have so far settled for a seven-member team and there were strong indications that there could be more additions.
The seven athletes named included the United States-based quartet of Tapiwanashe Makarawu, Donald Chiyangwa, Chengetayi Mapaya and Ashley Kamangirira.
They were joined by Ngoni Makusha, Dennis Hove and Gerren Muwishi on the list.
"This is our team. We are still working on (names of) a few athletes that are supposed to be finalised by the end of the day today (yesterday) because of some pressing logistical issues," said Phakamile.
Being an Olympic year and the window for athletics still open until June 30, Phakamile said they had to consider athletes closer to qualification. The national association is looking at increasing the number of qualified athletes.
So far, four athletes have secured their places at the Paris Games. These include marathon runners Isaac Mpofu and Rutendo Nyahora, and sprinters Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba.
"I know that the last time we went for the Africa Senior Championships in Mauritius, we did pick a (bronze) medal there with the 4x100m relay team. We are expecting again to try and replicate the same performance or even better, get a silver or gold medal if all goes well.
"But our main focus, this time around if you look at our team, we have several athletes that are very close to the Olympics qualifying time.
"If you are to look at Donald Chiyangwa, he is 0.06 seconds to qualify for the 400m. Chenge Mapaya is just a few centimetres from his jumps (triple jump).
"And with that, we want to try and give these guys an opportunity, another chance since they have closed their college games. Another chance to try and have a go at the Olympic qualifying standards for the Olympics.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"For the ladies we have Ashley. Ashley is also on course to qualify for the hurdles, both the long and the short hurdles. So I think it will be a very good opportunity for her, as well to try and give it a go one last time before we close the Olympics qualifying window," said Phakamile. Makarawu is set to compete in both 100m and 200m while Chiyangwa will be up for 400m.
They are both part of the relays.
It is the same story for Muwishi and Hove, who are both going for 400m. They will also be part of the relays as well as Makusha.
In the individual events, Makusha is up for the 100m and 200m race.
"Our team is going to build a relay team from the number of athletes that we have, and hoping that the ones that are on standby and are busy sorting out their documentation will join us.
"We must be able to field a 4x100m and 4x400m men's relay team.
"Otherwise, the association is running up and down trying to source for assistance as in funding. We still need to buy several air tickets for several athletes that we did not mention in this list.
"And we are hoping that if we get any sponsors, any generous well-wishers to assist us pick up the remaining athletes it will be a very good and kind gesture for the association.
"We are going to Cameroon targeting a lot of things this time around. One, we are targeting qualifying for the Olympics and two, we are targeting improving the number of medals that we got," said Phakamile.
