ZIMBABWE marathon record holder, Cuthbert Nyasango will be hoping to finally book his place at the 2016 Rio Olympics when he lines up against some of Africa’s top long-distance runners at the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan on December 6.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO Nyasango’s participation in the prestigious International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Gold Label Road Race was confirmed by IAAF yesterday together with world record-holder Dennis Kimetto and defending champion Patrick Makau.
The Nyanga-born long distance runner, who set a new national marathon record of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 52 seconds at the 2014 Prague International Marathon in the Czech Republic last took part in a major marathon race at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, two months ago.
With the strong field of runners struggling to cope with the hot and humid conditions, Nyasango put on a good show as he finished 23rd in a season best time of two hours 22 minutes 15 seconds.
His time, however, fell outside the Rio Olympic Games qualifying standard of two hours 17 minutes zero seconds.
Nyasango will be hoping to finally meet the qualifying standard at the Fukuoka Marathon, a track he seems to enjoy following an eighth-place finish in 2012.
The 32-year-old runner made the country proud after finishing a respectable seventh position at the 2012 London Olympic Games in the United Kingdom to record the best ever marathon finish by a Zimbabwean at the quadrennial global sporting fiesta.
