By Freeman Makopa
THE Zimbabwe men’s 4x400m sprint relay team is appealing for financial assistance to travel to Yokohama, Japan for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) world relays championships slated for May 11 to 12.
The team qualified for the world championships after the quartet of Itayi Vambe, Ngonidzashe Makusha, Tatenda Tsumba and Dickson Kamungeremu came first at the international meet, clocking 38.95 seconds at Lefika Athletics Club Relays and hurdles event in Gaborone, Botswana, early this month.
National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president Tendai Tagara called upon the corporate community to provide financial assistance to the team.
“We are now looking forward to participate in Japan. Our challenge is the securing of the relay team’s tickets, food and accommodation. So we are calling upon the corporate community to come to our aid. After the performance in Botswana, this is where we expect the corporate world to come in. We would rather get money now during preparations than get it at the finals.”
Tagara hailed the team for qualifying for the global showcase.
“The team did exceptionally well in Botswana. If you look at it, not many people thought we would qualify in Botswana. I had quite a number of deliberations with people who thought we would not make it, but from my background as a coach, I knew the performance of Makusha and Tsumba can take the team to the qualifying standard.
“Remember also when we went to Botswana, the hosts’ 4x 100 relay was also looking to qualify for the world relay. So Zimbabwe set a standard in Botswana that resulted in both countries qualifying for the event. Botswana appreciates the effort that Zimbabwe did for them to qualify,” he added.
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This is the first time that Zimbabwe has qualified for the event, and if it reaches the final at the world relay championships the team will automatically qualify to run for Doha in September.
