Zim duo spoil SA’s Two Oceans party

THE Zimbabwe duo of Givemore Mudzinganyama and Loveness Madziva played the role of party spoilers to prevent South Africa’s clean sweep in the men’s and women’s Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town yesterday.

The two finished third in their respective 56-kilometre Ultra Marathon races, with Mudzinganyama failing to defend his crown from last year’s event.

Mudzinganyama finished third with a time of three hours, 11 minutes and 13 seconds behind South Africans Onalenna Khonkhobe (03:09:30) and Lloyd Bosman (03:09:58), who came in first and second, respectively.

In the women’s race, it was a similar tale as Madziva prevented a South African clean sweep after coming in third with a time of three hours and 38 minutes.

Gerda Steyn won the senior women’s race with a time of three hours, 26 minutes and 54 seconds, while Irvette Van Zyl came in second with a time of three hours, 29 minutes and 30 seconds.

Another Zimbabwean, Lyno Muchena, finished 10th in the men’s race with a time of three hours, 14 minutes and 41 seconds to cap off a commendable day in the office for the country’s representatives.

News of the Zimbabweans’performance came as a pleasant shock to National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (NAAZ) president Tendai Tagara, who said it reminds him of the country’s dominance in the race during the days of the likes of Marko Mambo, Honest Mutsakani and Stephen Muzhingi.

“Wow, that is brilliant,” gushed Tagara. “I was not yet aware of the results as I am currently at the National Sports Stadium for the junior championships, but I am very proud of Mudzinganyama and Madziva.

“You know, it is a sure sign that we are slowly going to our dominance of these marathon races and I am quickly reminded of the days of Marko (Mambo) and Stephen (Muzhingi). Zimbabweans have been doing well over the past couple of years, statistically, especially Mudzinganyama, who has been always near podium finishes over the last three or four years.

“Both he and Madziva did very well, and we are extremely proud of them.”

Tagara reserved special praise for Muchena, saying he was not the least bit surprised with his top 10 finish in the men’s race.

“I used to coach him and have been monitoring his progress from being an 800metre runner and moving to the middle distances and then the ultra-marathon,”he said.