The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema
Deputy Sports Editor
FOR decades now Tendai Tagara has cast quite an imposing figure on local athletics as a coach and now as an administrator.
Only recently, the seasoned administrator secured his third straight election victory as Athletics Zimbabwe president.
This time around he went one better as he was retained unopposed.
But for all of Tagara’s reign over the sport, he would be the first to admit that the year 2020 has been very difficult.
“Yes, 2020 has been difficult, if not the most difficult year in the history of the sport.
“From my days as an athlete, then coach and now administrator, I haven’t seen anything that comes close to the Covid-19 pandemic and the havoc it has wreaked on all sports.
“There was no way of preparing for the pandemic and we had so many expectations and programmes, with the Olympics being the main priority.
“All these have been scrapped owing to the pandemic and now we have to adapt and learn to live with it.
“Our rankings also took a dip, as athletes needed to train and compete, and we couldn’t do either,” Tagara said.
However, there looks to be light at the end of the tunnel, as the sport makes its official return today in the inter-provincials meet at White City Stadium in Bulawayo.
Due to Covid-19 guidelines and restrictions, only five events will be on the cards, with each province bringing two athletes per event.
These are restricted to the track only, and include the 100, 200, 400 and 800-metre races, while the 5 000-metre race will be the only long-distance contest.
“We are guided by the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) and we are happy with the support and guidance we have received from them,” he said.
“Human beings are social animals, they need to interact, and this is quite a huge opportunity for us.
“I urge all those athletes that have been given an opportunity to travel to Bulawayo to use this opportunity to showcase their abilities.
“This meet will give them the basis to measure how far they have gone and an opportunity to identify areas that still need work.”
The meet will have the dual purpose of marking the return of the sport and act as a dress rehearsal for the 2021 calendar, which will be dominated by the Olympics, African (and Junior) Championships, the Southern Africa Junior and Senior Championships.
He has made assurances that all athletes that will participate at the meet will be safe.
“We have been monitoring the situation as it pertains to surges in numbers (of infections), and (we) are in constant communication with the city council and other relative authorities in Bulawayo.
“The tracks have been fumigated, as per city council request. All protocols have been observed and followed.
“We also have a team in Bulawayo who are monitoring the situation.”
Tagara seems excited about the prospect of today’s meet and prefers to concentrate on the lessons rather than the troubles of 2020.
“There are many lessons to learn from the pandemic and the year gone by.
“It is high time we move away from the system of using one particular event for qualification for major events.
“It is a worldwide trend, but as the pandemic taught us, we need to raise our game in terms of preparing for major championships.
“As things stand, we do not have a single athlete that qualified for the Olympics prior to the Covid-19,
with the pandemic affecting most events.”
