The Sunday Mail
VETERAN long-distance runner Abel Chimukoko has bemoaned the lack of support given to athletes preparing to represent the country at international competitions.
The 42-year-old, who has participated at competitions that include the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, 2003 Abuja All Africa Games and 1998 Commonwealth games, also alleges that local sporting facilities have been made inaccessible by relevant authorities.
Chimukoko, speaking at a two-day sports journalists’ forum organised by the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee to bring awareness and dissemination of accurate information with regards to Olympic programmes in Harare yesterday, noted there was need to review rates charged at sports facilities.
“The country is proud of having good facilities, but these are not accessible due to exorbitant prices.
“We have facilities like the National Sports Stadium that we cannot access because we are charged almost $300 a day when we want to hold competitions there. Our athletes end up going to other places that are not conducive.
“We have a swimming facility at the Aquatic Complex in Chitungwiza but people are being charged lots of money. For example, when I went to Spain to pursue my career that country’s government offered me good training facilities for free and I responded by putting up good performances,” said Chimukoko, who stayed in Spain for nine years.
The former Olympian added that local athletes will continue struggling to meet international competition qualifying times if they are not afforded opportunities to compete at their own facilities.
“Our athletes then try to go to South Africa to run good times yet conditions in such countries are not favourable to them. That is why at the end of the day Zimbabwe end up sending fewer athletes to the Olympic Games,” he said.
Also sharing her experiences, Olympic rower Micheen Thornycroft promised to prepare for the 2016 Olympic Games in Zimbabwe to prove that there are local professionals capable of producing elite athletes. Thornycroft, who finished 14th out of 28 athletes at the London Olympic Games, said Zimbabwe was not lacking in talent but in resources.
Despite being one of the 10 recipients of the Olympic Athletes Scholarships, the 27-year-old has taken up two jobs to fund her preparations ahead of Rio 2016.
“So now I work full time at Hellenic Academy teaching physical education in the morning and coaching tennis and hockey in the afternoons. I am so lucky that this school has taken me on a full-time basis and allows me time off to go and compete and train in Europe,” said Thornycroft.
The two-day seminar, which was officially opened by ZOC president Admire Masenda, ended yesterday with journalists being kept abreast with trends in digital media, the role of the Sports and Recreation Commission and sponsorship in sport.
Also hogging the limelight were anti-doping issues presented by the vice- chairman of the Regional Anti-Doping Agency committee, Nicholas Munyonga.
