The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema
Deputy Sports Editor
Not many have been affected by, or felt the full brunt of the coronavirus than the trio of Zimbabwe triple jump starlet Chengetayi Mapaya, sprinter Ngoni Makusha and Zimbabwe Sevens rugby coach Gilbert Nyamutsamba.
United in their dream to grace the Tokyo Olympics, each one of them has their own story of how the virus shattered their plans to appear at the global sports showpiece.
For Nyamutsamba, the 49-year-old coach was midway through his South American tour with the Cheetahs at the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series when the outbreak occurred.
This saw the Hong Kong Sevens Tournament, the Olympics and its repechage qualifiers put on ice.
For Makusha and Mapaya, these athletics upstarts had just begun their respective seasons when the virus disrupted both their season openers in the Spar series and the Indoors National Championship in the United States.
However, the postponement and rescheduling of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games to July 2021 has come as good news for the trio.
“It would have been ideal for the Games to have been held at an earlier date so as not to disrupt other events that normally take place during that time, but I am sure the weather was also a factor in coming up with the new dates,” said Nyamutsamba.
“Although we knew that actual qualification for the Games was going to be a tough, our goal this year was to build a strong base (squad), and now we have more time to do that.
“Regrouping or training after the virus has so many unknowns, but we are going to work even harder and make the best of the situation we find ourselves in now.
“We will definitely hit the ground running and try to make up for lost time,” said Nyamutsamba.
Mapaya and Makusha were a bit more enthused.
“We are still on lockdown here at TCU (Texas Christian University), and as school is still closed, there is not much to do,” said Mapaya.
“However, it is not gloom and doom, as postponing the Olympics was the best decision they (International Olympic Committee) could have made. They put the safety and well-being of their athletes first and the IOC should be commended for that.
“From a personal point of view, I got super excited when I heard the news, as it means I get more time to rest, heal and prepare for qualification.
“My goals for this year were to make a run for the Olympics, and after the virus hit, I thought that my dream had disappeared. Luckily, now, I get another shot,’’ Mapaya said.
“I just heard the news a few days ago and was very happy,” said Makusha, the 100m and 200m speedster.
“I thought postponing the Games was the most logical move, as most athletes had stopped training and we have no idea when this virus will die down.
“It also gives some of us more time to qualify and prepare for the Games,” he said.
The IOC pencilled in the rescheduled Tokyo Games for July 23 to August 8 2021 after an extensive meeting between the Olympic body, International Paralympic Committee, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
The Games, however, retain the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games tagline.
For Makusha, the 26-year-old seems a bit indifferent to it.
“I think it is alright to keep the name Tokyo 2020; though it will be a bit weird to call it that when the Games will be held in 2021. Most people seem to be used to the 2020 tagline,” he said.
Mapaya and Nyamutsamba are also for the idea.
“Keeping the games with the 2020 logo makes a lot of sense; and I say so because the Games will still be the 2020 edition, and I am sure the logos, medals, advertising materials and all other branding had already been done with that tagline in mind,” said Nyamutsamba.
“I hear even the 2020 mascot was already in place, and changes will cost more money,” he said.
