The Herald
Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
PROMISING sprinter Ngoni Makusha is hoping to make the 2020 Olympic Games qualification early so that he gets adequate time to prepare for the main event.
The Harare-based sprinter is one of the athletes the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe are pinning their hopes on to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
He was at the African Games in August but things did not go as expected as the athletics team struggled to leave a mark.
“I guess I am starting to work on my weaknesses. I made a mistake at the African Games.
“I was too tired because I had a European tour, so I came from Europe straight to Morocco for the African Games and things did not go as expected.
“In terms of training, I had not adequately prepared because when I went to Europe, my coach wasn’t there so I was training alone and I was really tired.
“We are planning to go to a High Performance Centre, in Pretoria, from 8 December to 6 January, so it’s like a month at the High Performance Centre,’’ said Makusha.
While most of the local athletes have taken a break for the off-season, Makusha has been working with his coach David Tinago and the other members of the 4x100m relay team — Tatenda Tsumba, Itayi Vambe and Dickson Kamungeremu.
“I am stronger in 200m, so my focus is more on 200m than 100m and also focusing on the relay team. We have also a good chance of qualifying.
“I am planning on starting to run early, so that I can hit the qualification early. So, possibly from the beginning of February I will be competing in South Africa and Botswana.
“There are the Africa Senior Championships in Algeria. So, we are just working hard towards that,’’ and I am just hoping to get the qualification time early, so that I have no pressure and then it also gives me more time to prepare,” added Makusha.
They have been training at the National Sports Stadium and Old Georgians mainly working on the base work.
“I started in September, so right now I am just doing base work that is stair workouts, hills, strength and conditioning and just trying to focus on my diet,” said Makusha.
The likes of long distance runners such as Munyaradzi Jari and Rutendo Nyahora are expected to lead the pack in marathon and triple jumper Chengetayi Mapaya has made some promising performances.
The World Athletics set tough qualifying standards for the 2020 Olympic Games and NAAZ president, Tendai Tagara admitted it’s going to be difficult. However, he is confident their athletes will make the grade.