The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
TINOTENDA MATIYENGA needed a couple of days to process his disappointing debut at the World Athletics Championships.
The 23-year-old failed to get past the heat stages of the 200-metre competition at the biennial event held from July 15 to July 24 in Oregon State, USA,.
He has been re-playing the race in his head over the past couple days.
However, rather than dwell on the result, Matiyenga has opted to draw lessons from the event and use them to better his craft.
“My performance at the World Championships wasn’t really what I was expecting it to be,” said Matiyenga of his seventh-place finish in the heat stages.
“My preparations were not as smooth as I would have wanted them to be, but I did do enough to be at the level at which I would have, at least, been able to make it through to the next round.
“I can’t say things went wrong per se; they did not fall in place. Prior to the event, I had been doing a lot of practice going around the turn, but, come race day, I did not run it the way I would have wanted to.”
Results aside, he remains grateful for the opportunity he got to race some of the world’s best and fastest athletes.
He hopes to use the experience to improve his form and start off his career as a professional on a high.
“You can’t really take away the experience of being around the world’s best and fastest athletes; I learnt a lot by just being there,” went on Matiyenga.
“Among the lessons I learnt from the experience is the importance of arriving at an event earlier so as to get a feel of the track and venue before the race.
“I also need to learn to hold my composure a little bit better, especially in the big situations like the Worlds Athletics Championships, and never let one result get me down.”
Matiyenga and Chengetayi Mapaya, who also had a disappointing World Athletics Championship campaign, will be graduating from Texas Christian University next week, after which they are
expected to start competing on the professional circuit.
