President to officially open games today

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa is today expected to officially open Zimbabwe National Youth and Paralympic Games in Gweru, which have attracted over 3 000 athletes.

The official opening of the games, which will run for two weeks, is slated for Mkoba Stadium.

Two blocks have been set up, with athletes battling it out in track, field, off-field competitions and ball games.

Monday saw the first block, which consists of the Under 23s and open Paralympic categories for the newly-introduced virtual provinces taking off with all athletes fighting for medals and places in the national team.

Successful athletes will represent the country in upcoming continental competitions.

Sporting disciplines for Under 23 competitions include athletics, basketball, chess, netball, football, darts, volleyball and pool, among others.

Categories for Paralympic athletics competition are the visually-impaired, hearing-impaired, intellectually-challenged and amputees’ races.

A number of events were however, cancelled after provinces failed to provide teams. These are blind football, wheelchair competitions and sitting volleyball.

The second block which mostly consists of the Under 18 categories will run from August 4 to 10.

Speaking at a Press briefing from the Command Centre at Gweru Polytechnic College yesterday, Sports and Recreation Commission director-general Mr Prince Mupazviriho said: “Everything in terms of accommodation, food and all the necessary logistics have been put in place.

“We have been moving around with the Local Organising Committees trying to make sure that every detail has been attended to. So we are very much geared to host these rebranded games, we are more than ready.”

National Youth and Paralympic Games chief executive Mr James Chivivi assured athletes that they will all be catered for throughout their stay as the numbers have reduced to manageable levels and the LOC is still running around to ensure the smooth running of the games.