Makusha exudes confidence
SPRINTER Ngoni Makusha is confident he will qualify for the World Championships and the Olympic Games.
He is set to compete at the African Games in Morocco next month.
Makusha is part of Team Zimbabwe that was unveiled last week and will head for the Games which will run from August 16 to 31.
The young sprinter, who will be competing at the continental games for the first time, will race in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
Makusha, together with his 4x100m relay team of Tatenda Tsumba, Dickson Kamungeremu and Dickson Kapandaura that competed at the World Relay Championships in Yokohama, Japan, will be in Morocco for the relay race.
They will also compete in individual events.
“I feel happy, this is a big opportunity for me to show the world what I can do and hopefully qualify for the World Championships and the Olympic Games.
“I have been working hard for this. I am feeling pretty good and I am healthy.
“This has been my goal for like four years so the past three years I have been working towards qualifying for the 2020 Olympics so the African Games are a huge opportunity for me to qualify.
“I am pretty sure I will get the qualification standard there.
“You should expect a gold-medal podium finish. I assure the nation we will do our best and make Zimbabwe proud.’’
Makusha recently won gold medals in the 100 and 200m events at the Southern African Championships in Mauritius.
Swimmer Ayman Fadi Khatoun, one of the five swimmers who will represent the country in Morocco, said he was happy to be included in Team Zimbabwe.
“It’s a really a good accomplishment. l have worked really hard and feel excited to go there. I will try my best,” he said.
The athletes are expected to go early next month into camp in Harare while those based outside the country already have their training programmes in place.
Foreign-based athletes, such as tennis brothers Benjamin and Courtney Lock, are already having their preparations.
Deputy chef de Mission of Team Zimbabwe for the African Games, Martin Dururu, said their strategy would be to travel to Morocco early.
“We are looking at conducting peak performance camps for the different sport codes here. “We have planned that we will have a camp in Harare and will also have different camps for the different sporting codes.’’