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Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN track and field Special Olympics athlete Nyasha Derera got a lot of praises from national director Viola Musariri after he was recently named World Special Olympics Global Ambassador joining nine other global representatives from 172 countries in Washington DC, United States.

The twenty-one-year old becomes the first Zimbabwean athlete to get such a recognition when he was appointed president of the movement. Musariri said Derera made history and it will go a long way ahead of their preparations for the Summer Special Olympics games to be staged in Abu Dhabi in March next year.

“This is the first time that Zimbabwe has had a representative from the 10 that are selected worldwide as Special Olympics Ambassadors and our own Derera has managed to get the highest office.

“We are happy for him and we know this will benefit us as a team and we are going to be in camp early next month in December.

“History had been made as Derera had become the first Zimbabwean to be inducted in the 10 Ambassadors in the world.

“We are proud as Zimbabweans because this is the first time that our own athlete has been picked as Special Olympics Ambassador and he will be joining athletics coaches to help train his collegues when we get into camp,” Musariri said.

Derera takes over the ambassadorial role from Motswana athlete for the next five years.

He holds an impressive 16 gold medals, six silver and one bronze from the national competitions and internationally he has one bronze he attained from the US and several certificates up his sleeves.

His specialty is the 400 meter to 42 km races.