Zim duo turn to 2020 Olympics

Petros Kausiyo in DOHA, Qatar ZIMBABWEAN duo Rutendo Nyahora and Chengetayi Mapaya were satisfied with their performances at the IAAF World Athletics Championships and believe they are still on course for qualification for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Road queen Nyahora even surprised herself when she finished a commendable 21 in the Women’s marathon, completing the gruelling race in two hours, 52 minutes and 33 seconds.

But Texas Christian University student Mapaya, competing on the world stage for the first time, will have to fight another day after he failed to make the cut from the triple jump qualification round. He finished 25th overall after leaping 16.36 metres, which is well out of his personal best of 17.13m.

Mapaya was the first to get on to the competition field as the 2019 Championships burst into life at the iconic Khalifa International stadium on Friday night.

The 20-year-old NCAAA championsomehow let his nerves get the better of him in a competition that had a cast of World and Olympic champions who included the qualification round winner, Pedro Pichardo of Portugal.

Pichardo led the 12 qualifiers after jumping 17.38m ahead of third-placed reigning World and Olympic champion Christian Taylor, who leapt 16.99m on his second attempt and passed up the opportunity for a third jump after sealing his place in today’s final.

But Mapaya chose to draw some positives from his performance which came after an injury-tainted off season. This curtailed his preparations ahead of the Doha meet.

“It was good competition going to theWorld Champs, it was special to qualify and it felt good to compete against all those people.

“Of course I didn’t do exactly what I wanted to do; everything wasn’t clicking.There are bad days in sport and yesterday wasn’t the very best of days.“But I will take it and I have learnt a lot from this. Going forward I know what to expect and I will work on improving.

“I don’t like losing, yesterday showed me that. So I am going back to the drawing board and will improve on my basics,’’Mapaya said.

He refused to blame the injury he incurred while training back home. lnstead, he insisted that his loss had more to do with the slow start to his jumps, which he said he needs to work more on.

“The injury could have been a factor but that is not going to be my excuse.

“I was a bit stiff. l might have been relaxed but l was not relaxed enough. I need to work on ensuring that my first three jumps are top notch. In the college games, you get six jumps but in theWorld Champs, it’s just three jumps.

“It’s been humbling representing my country, not just my family, friends and myself. After this, I only need to rest for three weeks or so then start training for the new season. I am sure I will be ready to fight for qualification for the Olympics,’’Mapaya said.

Hours after Mapaya had done his triple jump, the focus of Team Zimbabwe’s small contingent here shifted to the inaugural midnight marathon as Nyahora was in the mix.

The 30-year-old South African-based runner did not disappoint in what is being billed as one of the toughest marathons ever when she finished in just under three hours.

Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich claimed the first goldofthe2019Championshipswhenshewon the marathon in two hours, 32 minutes and 43 seconds ahead of Bahrain’s Rose Chelimo (2hrs, 33minutes, 46seconds) and Helalia Johannes of Namibia, who claimed bronze in two hours, 34 minutes and 15seconds.

Nyahora finished 47th on herWorld Championships debut in London two years ago, and her recent performance showed a vast improvement in her marathon.

The race here began at midnight to make it easier for athletes, but the weather was brutal nonetheless, with temperature pegged at 30 degrees Celsius and humidity at 70 percent.

Said Nyahora: “Of course I had wanted to be in the top 20 and I was confident I would make it. ln the last two kilometres, I missed the target. But as the old saying, this race was not for the swift, but for those who could endure. My main aim became that of finishing the race and making my country proud, not the finishing position.”

A lead pack of five ran together for the first 20km, while the trailing groups bunched up as best as they could to endure through the laps around Doha’s waterfront of Corniche.

Chepngeti, always among the leading pack, then surged further ahead, opening a sizeable gap in the final seven kilometres, to run an unchallenged finish.

However, most likely due to the weather, she was 15 minutes slower than the two hours, 17 minutes and eight seconds she clocked in Dubai earlier this year.

Nyahora was also well outside her personal best time of two hours, 34 minutes and 49 seconds. Despite that, she was happy with her performance.

“I enjoyed my race even though the conditions were very difficult. I reminded myself that everyone was going through the same conditions.

“I am happy that I am improving, I think I am on course for the Olympics. I have learnt to run at my own pace, to run my own race. That is my advice to the Zimbabwean men’s marathon crew. I noticed that the Ethiopians were going too fast, maybe that is why they could not finish the race,’’Nyahora said.

All the fancied Ethiopians could not finish the race. A total of 23 out of the 68 runners failed to last the distance.

Ethiopia was represented by runners who were third and fourth on the entry list behind Chepngetich.

Ruti Aga has run a best of two hours, 18 minutes and 34 seconds.

Roza Dereje has made two hours, 20 minutes and 51 seconds this year. She has a best of two hours, 19 seconds and 17 seconds.

Another Ethiopian, Shure Demise, has run 2 hours, 21 minutes and five seconds this season.