BY HENRY MHARA
ZIMBABWE will send five athletics to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games as confirmed by the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (Zoc) during a virtual unveiling ceremony yesterday.
This is the lowest number of athletes to represent the country at the global showcase since the inaugural Games in 1928 when only two representatives participated.
At independence in 1980, a total of 42 athletes travelled to Moscow, which remains the biggest delegation to represent the country at the Olympics.
Since then, the country has sent representatives to every Olympics, while the seven who went to London in 2012 was the least number to represent the nation.
From the five that were unveiled yesterday, only golfer Scott Vincent and rower Peter Purcell-Gilplin met the qualifying standards.
The rest are beneficiaries of universal slots given by the organisers to the countries whose athletes struggle to meet the qualifying times.
Recipients of the slots are Ngoni Makusha, who will compete in athletics and swimmers Donata Katai, Peter Wetzlar.
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A bloated delegation of at least 13 people including Zoc and government officials will accompany the five athletes to the Games due to take place from July 23 to August 8.
Originally scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9 2020, the event was postponed in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite being rescheduled to this year, the event retains the Tokyo 2020 name for marketing and branding purposes.
Zimbabwean athletes have won a total of eight medals — three golds, four silvers and one bronze — in two sports.
Seven medals were won by Sports minister Kirsty Coventry during her days as world renowned swimmer in 2004 and 2008; the remaining medal was won by the women’s national field hockey team in 1980.
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