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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
WITH seven athletes having already qualified for the IAAF World Under-20 championships in Tampere, Finland, next month, director in charge of junior development Silas Muringani says preparations are already in full swing.

Some of the local athletes are training in Botswana.

The championships will be held from July 10 to 15 in Tampere.

The seven athletes that have qualified mainly for the sprint events are Ngoni Chadyiwa, Norman Mukwada, Blessing Nyandoro, Leon Tafirenyika, Tinotenda Matiyenga, Dickson Kapandura and Simbarashe Maketa.

Muringani said the athletes were working with their coaches at their respective bases before their final camp set for end of June ahead of their departure on July 7.

Matiyenga, who is based in the United States, will join the rest of the team in Finland.

“Presently Leon and Blessing are in Botswana. Norman is working with the Bindura University Academy.

“Matiyenga is at his base in the United States while Maketa, Chadyiwa and Dickson are working with their coaches locally as they are still in school.

“I hope to meet all the athletes in the final week of their preparations                   . . . they have got a programme they will be following with their coaches because already the coaches know they have qualified.

“So what we are hoping for is that actually after the 29th of June we call athletes to Harare, that’s the final week of preparation,” said Muringani.

Muringani said looking at the qualification times posted by the athletes, they are hoping for positive results from Finland.

“Most of these athletes qualified from home soil that is although they qualified in Botswana or South Africa they have been training here at home.

“So it reflects the maturity in that most of them have more than six years of training.

“I want to believe we will bring better results than any teams that have competed in the past.

“If you look at their qualification times, most of them are well inside the required time which means they stand chance to cruise past the first round, second round, which means they have a chance to go to the semi-finals,” said Muringani.