dyton mupawaendaEllina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
HARARE Athletic Board have rescheduled their Track and Field Championships to tomorrow at the University of Zimbabwe with the hope of attracting more athletes for the meet.
Initially the meet was scheduled to take place on Sunday.
However, HAB chairperson Cousinet Simunyu said they had to consider athletes going back to school. “Sunday is too congested with back-to-school activities where most parents are taking their kids to school.
“Again, some clubs had athletes in camp and were bound to release them on Sunday to attend to school errands.”
The event is expected to attract athletes of different age groups drawn from clubs, schools, and independent athletes.
Being the first provincial track and field competition for the new season, coaches and athletes are hoping to assess progress made during the pre-season preparations.
Track Master Athletics Club coach Mavhuto Tumba said it’s a platform to fine-tune their athletes. “I have 32 athletes that I have registered.
“Most of them will be doing track events; I haven’t started focusing on field events. So, they will be doing 100m up to 1500m.
“The main focus is correcting the mistakes being made by athletes. “For example, energy distribution. That’s one of the areas I will be looking at and fixing their starts and acceleration,” said Tumba.
Meanwhile, some of the seasoned athletes, who include Ngoni Makusha, have taken their training to South Africa as they brace for the season. “The training for the 2025 season has been going well, the pre-season in particular. I have been working hard putting in the work, just trying to work on those little things like trying to polish up on everything.
“Right now, I am training in South Africa, Pretoria, so it’s looking good. I have been seeing some improvements in terms of my training, and I am expecting a good season, definitely,” said Makusha.
With the World Athletics Relays scheduled for May 10 and 11 in China, Makusha is hoping he can make the team that will fight for qualification. The target is to improve his times first.
“Obviously the goal this season is to get better; that’s the goal for the season, just to get better, to get better times, to qualify for major championships.
“Right now, our goal is set on making it for the World Championships and as well help the relay team make it for the World Relay Championships. And try to lower my times in both the 100m and 200m.
“Basically, I have been trying to put in the work, just staying positive and listening to the coaches, staying disciplined, and I am just happy right now that I am injury-free and training has been going well so far,” said Makusha. Distance runner Wellington Varevi expressed his interest in qualifying for the World Championships in September.
“My wish is to try and see if I can qualify for the World Championships in the 10,000m event. I also want to try one 42km race. I am likely to go for the Durban International Marathon. “The 10,000m event is my main event. I would really like to try and see if I can qualify, but I am also looking at my chances for the 5000m event,” said Varevi.
Moses Tarakinyu, who had some fruitful outings last season and graduated to the marathon, says he is still to finalise on his programme as he is still recovering from a hamstring injury. However, he is hopeful of returning to competition in February.
