ZIMBABWE’s hopes of getting a medal at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships currently underway in Eugene in the United States, suffered a huge blow after Pride Lusinga put up a poor showing to crash out of the 400-metre hurdles.
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The 19-year-old was the first of five Zimbabwean representatives at the championships to go into the tracks when he lined up in the 400-metre hurdles first round heat. He finished 5th in Heat 7 after clocking a time of 54,24sec.
Lusinga was 1,46sec behind the qualifying time. His personal best is 52,60sec.
The country’s next representative Michael Songore was expected on the track in the 200 metre sprint last night where he was one of the favourites to go through from his heat.
Songore’s personal best time of 21,26sec, which he clocked at the 2013 Botswana National Championships, was only second best to that of Switzerland’s Silvan Wicki who boast of a 21,11sec.
The 19-year-old sprinter last year participated at the World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, where he competed in the 100 metre race, but could not reach the final. Middle distance runner Enlitha Ncube is the only woman in the Zimbabwe team at the championships.
She is expected to compete in the 1 500 metre race tonight, and she is using these championships to prepare for next month’s Youth Olympics to be staged in Nanjing, China. Songore and Lusinga will then team up with Kuda Nyahuma and Shingirai Hlanguyo this evening for the 100 metre heats relay. The quartet’s chief mission in Eugene is to gather international experience required to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
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The 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships 2014 will conclude on Sunday.
