Athletes want piece of Covid-19 relief cake

ZIMBABWE sprinter Ngoni Makusha and his fellow athletes have put their names in the hat for Government’s $10 million Covid-19 relief package for athletes, as the 26-yearold continues to hold out hope for a berth at next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games.

The 2020 Olympics, originally scheduled for Japan this year, have been deferred to 2021 after global sport was halted due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

Government last week announced that of the $10 million relief package that will be administered by the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, half had been set aside for sport.

“The Olympics has always been the goal, and everything we have been doing has been aimed at making it to Tokyo,” said Makusha.

The grant, meant for the country’s elite athletes still vying for qualification at international competitions like the Olympics and FIFA Under-20 World Cup, remains the only piece of good news for Makusha and his relay teammates — Dickson Kamungeremu, Tatenda Tsumba and Itayi Vambe — particularly at a time when so much uncertainty surrounds their fate.

“Yes, we have applied for the grant. “It’s for athletes vying for international events and is basically meant to cover the losses we have incurred due to Covid-19, as we couldn’t travel for competitions and lost a lot in terms of income.

“We feel we fit the bill and we have sent in our papers,” he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit sports hard over the last couple of months, more so Zimbabwe athletics.

Despite being given the green light to resume, most athletes remain stranded.

“There is a lot of uncertainty. “Right now, we are just training, doing a few drills here and there, and have been going to the gym.

“The only good thing that came out of the lockdown is that it gave me time to heal, as I suffered a slight hamstring injury just before the pandemic hit.

“I have since spent the last couple of months resting and healing, and can safely say that I am fit now.

“We also have a clean bill of health in camp,” he said.

The uncertainty surrounding international competitions has also left Makusha and his colleagues an anxious lot.

“It’s mostly a waiting game. “We don’t know what is going to happen with the Covid-19 situation, and we hope that by December, earliest November, that borders will reopen and we can start travelling for meets.

“We usually go to South Africa or Botswana for competitions, as our local tracks are not certified by World Athletics.

“The only thing we can do is continue training so that we are ready should, and when, the time comes,” he said.

Makusha, however, lauded the camaraderie within his camp during the lockdown and credits his teammates for helping him through what he has termed “a hard time”.

“It really was a hard time. “We were used to being busy with meets and training and then all of a sudden, we had to sit at home.

“It was a really stressful couple of months; we had prepared well for the season, and then had it all taken away.

“Credit, however, goes to my teammates.

“We kept in touch, mostly through video calls, and motivated each other.

“We sent each other workout tips and videos as the goal was to stay fit” Makusha said.

Apart from women long-distance runner Rutendo Nyahora and triple jumper Chengetai Mapaya, the quartet of Makusha, Tsumba, Vambe and Kamungeremu are among the country’s top prospects for Olympic qualification, with the 4X100 meter relay team having shot to fame last year.

There, the team qualified for the World Relay Championships, having left their opponents in the dust with a record time of 38,95 seconds at the Lefika Athletics Championships in Gaborone, Botswana.

They beat a 12-year running record set by another Zimbabwean team of another Ngoni Makusha, Gabriel Mvumvure, Brian Dzingai and Lewis Banda at the 2007 African Games (formerly All-Africa Games) in Algeria.

Sadly, the team failed to add on to that feat as they were disqualified in the qualifying heats of the two-day IAAF World Relay Championships in Yokohama, Japan, last year.