Local juniors target World U20 Champs
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe is looking at closely working with schools as they seek to improve their numbers at the forthcoming World Under 20 Championships.
The meeting is due to take place from August 27 to 31 in Lima, Peru.
NAAZ has earmarked some of the juniors that competed at the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Under-20 and Under 18 Championships last year in Zambia while also taking advantage of the schools’ competition to identify athletes with the potential to qualify.
A number of the juniors who competed in Zambia last year have expressed interest in pursuing qualification for the World Under 20 Championships.
NAAZ president Tendayi Tagara said they have sent out the qualifying standards to schools as they are in charge of most of the athletes in the targeted age group.
“We have distributed the Junior Championships qualifying standards to all schools, including to learners studying in South Africa.
“Quite a number of them have been checking on that one, so we have also sent the qualifying standards for those outside Zimbabwe to say that if you are available to represent Zimbabwe you are welcome anytime as long as you meet the standards,” said Tagara.
The target for the national association is to improve the numbers at the junior competition. “Our target is to make sure that the juniors qualify as early as possible. So the NASH National Championships that will take place in Victoria Falls, in March, is a critical event for us to make sure that our athletes perform better.
“The private schools’ national championships which they do in various regions will also be monitored to make sure that athletes qualify. We have got a very big chunk of our athletes that are in private schools and we are hoping they qualify.
“Our target is to make sure at least five juniors qualify for the World Under-20 Championships . . . As a country, we are happy that every time we have managed to send qualified athletes. We do not go there by representation, we send direct qualification, so that is our hope again.
“We are also hoping that the juniors that went to the Africa Junior Championships, used the platform in Zambia as a stepping stone on how to qualify for international events,” said Tagara. Panashe Nhenga and Denzel Simusialela qualified for the previous edition staged in Cali, Colombia, in 2022.
The qualification window is already open and will run until three weeks before the championships begin.
Some of the juniors who are working towards qualification include Nhenga, David Nyamufarira, and Takunda Mhete, who won a bronze medal at the CAA Under-20 in the triple jump. Mhete said with the season still in its infancy, he is working on improving his distances to make it to the World Championships. “Leading up to July I want to be peaking at that time so that I am ready for the World Under-20 Championships being held in Peru. So that’s the main goal this year.
“The way it’s looking right now, chances are very high, just a couple of things that I do need to rectify. But I am becoming more consistent, I am maturing a lot more, especially with my knowledge of the event,” said Mhete.
Nyamufarira, who recently dominated the Baldmin Triangular Series first leg held in Harare said he is aiming for qualification in both 100m and 200m.
“I want to qualify for the World Athletics Junior Championships in Peru this year in August, so that’s my goal for both 100m and 200m,” said Nyamufarira.
Nhenga is out to make his second appearance at the Junior Championships before graduating to the seniors.