Long distance runners George Majaji and Nkosiyazi Sibanda will get proper preparations for July’s London Olympics when they take part at the 2nd Africa Cross-Country Championships to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday.
Majaji and Sibanda were part of a nine-member delegation including two officials that left the country for South Africa by road yesterday. The meet, which would see the best runners from the continent contesting, is poised to gear up the duo for their Olympics campaign.
World-acclaimed runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritria and Morocco will likely afford the Zimbabweans good competition as the Kenyans would be out to defend their title, while other powerhouses would want to claim all the pride. Sibanda, Majaji, Elmore Sibanda and Jacob Mugomeri complete the senior men’s team while Thandiwe Nyathi will race in the senior women’s category.
The country will not be represented by any junior men at the competition, but Sithulisiwe Zhou and Pamela Katuruza will take part in the junior women’s section. Coach Fali Nyathi and Salatiel Zangure complete the Zimbabwean travelling party.
National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president Joseph Mungwari believes Majaji and Sibanda will return home with vast experience as they ready themselves for the Olympics.
“It is good that those two (Majaji and Sibanda) are exposed to stiff competition as they prepare for the Olympics. They will benefit a lot from that race because they will be competing against Ethiopian and Kenyan runners who are currently the best long-distance runners in the world,” said Mungwari. The Zimbabwean athletes were selected at the national Cross-Country Championships held in Redcliff last month.
