UNITED States-based sprinter Gabriel Mvumvure will be Zimbabwe’s sole representative at this year’s International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Indoor Championships which run from Thursday to Sunday in Portland, Oregon in the United States, as he continues with his preparations towards qualifying for this year’s Rio Olympic Games.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Mvumvure (27), who has enjoyed an impressive start to the indoor athletics season after making a comeback from a career-threatening illness, will take part in the 60m dash.
The race will form part of his preparations for this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro where he will be looking to qualify for both the 100m and 200m races.
“I’m a man who moves by faith and not by sight. So every time I compete, I always go for gold,” Mvumvure declared yesterday in an interview with NewsDay Sport from his US base.
“I know I’m not ranked that high. I believe I’m not even in the top 10, but it’s moments like these that fuel me to rise above everyone’s expectations,” he said.
“This championship is a stepping stone for me to perform better than two years ago. In the eyes of many, fearlessly believing that much is self-destructive, but I’m very persistent and will never give up until I reach my very best,” he said.
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Mvumvure will be making his second appearance at the IAAF World Indoor Championships after his debut at the previous edition held in Sopot, Poland, two years ago, where he equalled the national 60m dash record of 6,60 seconds.
“At the 2014 World Indoor Championships, I travelled to Sopot, Poland, and my time wasn’t even top 30. However, I didn’t feel defeated, but I competed like a fearless warrior and came out with a personal best, national record and just two spots shy of a place in the final. Had I looked at times and rankings, I don’t believe anyone expected me making out of the preliminaries,” he said.
Mvumvure, a former Africa junior champion, has been in brilliant form on the US indoor circuit. The former Churchill High School student won the 60m dash at the LSU Twilight Indoor Track & Field Championships in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, last month, clocking a season-best time of 6,64 seconds to get his season off to a flying start.
Mvumvure’s time beat the IAAF World Indoor Championships qualifying standard time of 6,65 seconds for the 60m dash.
A week earlier Mvumvure had beaten triple Olympic silver medallist Richard Thompson on his way to victory at the LSU Performance Meet, which was also held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, clocking 6,69 seconds on his way to victory.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s cross-country runners Jacob Mugomeri and Olivia Chitate found the going tough at the African Cross-Country Championships in Yaounde, Cameroon, at the weekend with both athletes failing to finish inside the top 10.
Mugomeri, who was the only Zimbabwean athlete in the senior men’s 10km contest, came home in position 23 out of 46 runners in 29 minutes 23, 24 seconds, while Chitate finished in 19th position in 35minutes 39, 20 seconds in the women’s race.
Kenya dominated the gold medals in all categories with Ethiopia putting up the strongest fight in the team competitions.
A total of 28 countries participated in the event.
