Augustine Hwata
24 June 2011
Zimbabwe’s athletes to the 7th World Youth Athletics Championships are confident they will acquit themselves well at the competition scheduled for Lille in France next month.
Sprinter Jermain Khuphukile who has been named captain of the six-member National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe team said they were all excited about the prospects of competing the global stage in Europe and said although they were anxious, they would not be overawed by the occasion.
Khuphukile said their selection for the event was good enough motivation for them to try and do well against some of the best teenage athletes from around the world.
“The fact that we have been selected to represent Zimbabwe is serving as a big motivation to us. It will be a great exposure for us to be in France and compete.
“We really have to show the rest of the world that Zimbabwe also has talent in athletics. Everyone is so excited and we are looking forward to being at the world championships,” said Khuphukile.
Khuphukile will compete in the boys 100m and 200m while another promising sprinter Clifford Charuka has been entered for the 200m. Tatenda Shumba, Tafara Hleruka, Taurai Muyambo and Tsitsi Mahachi have also been selected for the International Association of Athletics Federations World Youth Championships.
Khuphukile, a Lower Sixth pupil at Falcon College in Esigodini, qualified for the world event after clocking 10,65s in the 100m while Muyambo was timed at 10,9s.
Hleruka ran the same distance in 11,15s.
The standard electronic qualifying time had been set for 11.25s for the boys in the 100m while Khuphukile ran 22,7s in the 200m with Chauruka recording 22,2s and Muyambo clocked 22,46s. The qualifying standard for the boys’ 200m was 22,85s while Shumba’s triple jump of 14,73m was within the entry mark of 14,45m.
Mahachi, the only girl in the team, qualified for her 100m event after clocking 12,2s.
She bettered the entry mark of 12,5s.
Her 200m qualifying time of 25.4s was also within the acceptable standard of 25.6s.
“We promise to do the our best and personally I hope to reach the finals of my events. For now we are just excited and very anxious to be travelling to Europe,” said Khuphukile.
The six athletes were at the French embassy in Harare yesterday to process their visas. NAAZ vice president Cynthia Phiri is also confident that the team will do well. Phiri is travelling as the team manager and believes the athletes have been selected on merit.
“The athletes were within the qualifying standards and most of these were timed electronically at the Southern Region Youth Championships in Namibia last month.
“Some times were also recorded at the NASH competitions and I am sure we should fare well at the event. Our biggest threat from the Southern African region will be South Africa but we should also be facing athletes from Egypt, Mozambique, France, United States and the rest of the world,” said Phiri.
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