Mpofu wins bronze at African Games

IT was another fruitful day for Team Zimbabwe at the ongoing African Games yesterday with Isaac Mpofu adding another medal when finishing third in the men’s 21km race in Accra, Ghana.

Mpofu crossed the finish line on third position in a time of 1 hour 5minutes 58 seconds to bag a bronze medal, taking Zimbabwe’s total tally to 10 by yesterday afternoon.

In the women’s section Rutendo Nyahora settled for position 11 in 1hour 20minutes 52seconds.

On Thursday, the Lock brothers — Benjamin and Courtney weighed in with a silver medal from the doubles match. Earlier on, Benjamin had claimed silver in the singles matches.

The Games were also serving as a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the singles. The winner from the continental event qualified for the Olympics.

While he missed out on the Olympics spot, Benjamin can take comfort in getting two silver medals for the country – one in the singles and the other one with his brother Courtney in the doubles.

Also on Thursday the Cheetahs got a silver medal when coming second in their competition.

Mpofu’s medal was the second bronze from athletics, after Ashley Kamangirira claimed bronze on Wednesday in 100m hurdles women.

Kamangirira also set a new national record on her way to winning the bronze medal when completing the race in 13.59seconds.

Athletics team manager Aaron Whyte said the team has done well but there is room for improvement as some of the athletes bowed out in the semi-final and final in their respective events.

“That was a massive performance from Ashley. She was so confident getting into the race. So far the team has done well considering that we took a depleted team.

“My overall comment is that, given the current state of affairs and conditions, the team did absolutely well but there is a huge room for improvement in all areas,” said Whyte

Kamangirira was scheduled to return to the track late yesterday for the 400m hurdles final. She made it into the final when coming third in the semi-final in a time of 59.79seconds. The 4x400m relay team was also set to run the final having qualified with a time of 3minutes 09.05seconds while Wellington Varevi was scheduled to compete in the 5000m final.

For Mpofu, his participation at the African Games was part of his preparations for the Olympic Games. He has already qualified for Paris. And yesterday’s race was his second assessment event.

National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president Tendayi Tagara, who is also Team Zimbabwe deputy chef de mission (technical) was impressed.

“He is an elite marathon runner on podium with 21km specialists. It speaks volume in terms of strength and speed.

“He will be going to Boston next month, so this is good for him. The progress is encouraging.

“After Boston more ingredients come into effect as far as final preparations for Paris are concerned,” said Tagara.

In cricket, Zimbabwe plays Namibia today as the curtain comes down on the 13th edition of the African Games.