A new athletics gem unearthed in England
Albert Marufu in LONDON, England THE star continues to shine for 16-yearold Zimbabwe-born British athlete Sean Mhende who is riding on a crest of a wave in both sports and academics in the United Kingdom.
Recently selected for the England Midlands Under-20 athletics team, Mhende, who specialises in track and field events - sprints, triple and high jump - is one of the brightest prospects in West Midlands, England.
Mhende capped a fine year when he recently passed his GCSE Ordinary Levels and will be proceeding to Advanced Levels at the same school.
Coming from a background in which teens of his age, mainly from the immigrant population, are increasingly getting involved in violent criminal activities in the streets of England, this is no mean feat for the youngster.
Mhende, who came to England when he was oneyear and seven months old, has been on a steady rise in both relays and triple jump.
He holds a personal best of 13.25mettres in triple jump which saw him rising from last year’s position of 83 to 18 in this year’s Under-17 rankings.
He is now ranked at position 126 from 379. His scorecard has been impressive and only recently he represented England Under-20 at the Welsh Athletics International where he scored a personal best of 13.25m in triple jump.
He also made it to the prestigious IAAF Diamond League 2018 which was held at Birtchifield Harriers in Birmingham.
Though not participating in the actual Diamond League competitions, but the club, Connect Under Under-17, under the West Midlands banner, this was a good recognition for the young man’s exploits.
Unfortunately, one of his relay teammates got injured resulting in his team failing to finish the race.
But the youngster, who trains with Burchfield Harriers, is naturally aiming high.
His parents - Edward and Ennie - are also ecstatic about his progress.
“I am glad that I managed to do well in my GCSEs. It was not easy at all for me as I had to fight from two fronts. It has been a very difficult period for me and I will continue working hard,” he said.
Mhende added that he had to continue participating in sports despite his parents’ misgivings.
“My parents had advised me to leave sport for this year to give maximum concentration on my studies.
‘’I did not like that because next year would have been very difficult for me to get to the stage I wanted. I have made a significant improvement this year and hope to be one of the best athletes in the future.
“I am working on being the best in sports and can only achieve that by increasing my fitness levels throughout the off-season. I am thankful of the support that I have received from my siblings and parents and coaches. I just hope to keep on improving in sport as well as in my studies,” he said.
His mother Ennie concurred with his son: “I am very happy that he managed to strike a balance between sport and his studies.
‘‘He competes in the Under-17 category, but managed to earn a call up for the England Under-20. As parents we were worried that he might struggle to strike a balance between sport and athletics and had advised him to concentrate on his studies, but he felt that he could do both.
“All we could do is to support him and I am very happy for him. If he had missed this year, it would have been difficult for him next year. The fact that he made it into the England team has made us proud.
‘’It is not easy to raise children in this country and all we can do as parents is to support whatever they want to do. I have grown to know more about athletics in recent years because of Sean,” said Ennie, whose other son Martin is a second year Chemistry student at Kings College in London.