Covid-19 : Athletes urged to be positive

SEASONED sports administrator Robert Mutsauki has added his voice to the ongoing situation where sport is facing what he described as multi- faceted challenges, including limited opportunities for athletes due to the Covid- 19 pandemic.

While everyone tries to remain positive and keep on hoping for the better, it is difficult to ignore the circumstances.

National sport associations and athletes have had to deal with the various challenges thrown at them and have had to change their plans on several occasions because of the uncertainty created by the environment.

“It’s a very difficult situation because in the first place we haven’t gone through this experience before and even our planning that we would normally do because normally we rely on planning ahead, it would not have factored this in.

“Nobody could have foreseen the impact of Covid-19 because we have had challenges before, but nowhere near what we are experiencing now. So you actually find that even organisations, quite a number of organisations were paralysed and they are struggling to come to terms with this.

“So the challenges are multi-faced that we are facing and it’s very difficult to be positive in the face of such a situation, which we have not encountered before. And in the end it’s more about just keeping going rather than an ideal situation where you want to achieve your goals. It’s going to be difficult.

“It’s almost like a survival mode now,” Mutsauki said.

For those associations that have athletes seeking qualification for the rescheduled Olympic Games, which are scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8, the environment has not helped their cause.

The former Zimbabwe Olympic Committee chief executive noted with concern the limited opportunities to try and qualify for the Games since last year. And now that coupled with the remaining time is making the situation more difficult.

Mutsauki pointed out that most of the time is now spent on motivating and trying to make athletes remain positive, which, under normal circumstances, would be part of training sessions with everybody around.

This helps to keep pushing each other but now with athletes getting programmes to train as individuals, it is tough and for athletes that have set goals they want to achieve, an ideal environment is whereby they have training partners and are continuously exposed to competition.

He said what may help to cope with the circumstances is acceptance and find ways such as utilising technology to navigate some of the challenges.

He gave an example of sprinter Ngoni Makusha, who has been at a High Performance Centre in South Africa as part of his preparations for the Olympic qualifiers as something positive.

“We just have to do the best we can do under those difficult circumstances and to accept. Maybe the first thing is to accept that you are in this situation and then find alternative ways of doing things and other ways of training.

“But the problem is of access to facilities, equipment and so on. So you still train under the constrained conditions. It will not give you the results that you want because you are not just training for fitness mind you. You are training to be competitive . . . In this you need training partners, the right facilities, you need the right equipment and so on.

“If you look at people like Ngoni Makusha, I think it was a good arrangement that he did to go to the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, South Africa. I think that was a good arrangement that gives him a fighting chance to qualify.

“If he had stayed put here, his chances would be diminishing all the time because he needed training partners at that level and maybe competitions to get the ( qualifying) time that he needs. But how many of our athletes are in that situation and so on?” said Mutsauki.

He also said for marathon runners if they could find fast courses, for instance in Europe where there is also competition from other top athletes that can push them to run fast times, they stand a good chance of qualifying for the Olympic Games.

But the seasoned administrator noted the high qualifying standards for athletics has another challenge considering the conditions under which athletes are trying to achieve those times.

The time left between now and the Games is also putting athletes and everyone else involved under pressure.

“I think the window is closing, which puts pressure on everybody and that pressure actually affects performances . . . So everybody is trapped right now, the only positive thing is to be supportive maybe.

“And to try and create opportunities which might then enable them to qualify. Give them opportunities and maybe the resources that are necessary there.

“But even when that is done they must then deliver themselves when the opportunity comes which is not easy because they have not had the opportunity to prepare themselves in the best way possible because of the conditions and restrictions, which are not of anyone’s making.

“The psychologists should assist the athletes to cope with this challenging situation because it has a devastating effect on the mind. The athletes need to be mentally strong to go through it, let alone to achieve the performances that they would want to and to be positive.

“I know that even in the past we have not made much use of sports psychology but now it’s more important than ever to do that,” said Mutsauki.