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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
OLYMPIAN Wirimai Juwawo has rallied the five marathon runners representing the country at the IAAF World Championships to raise the country’s flag high in London.

Zimbabwe is fielding Cuthbert Nyasango, Pardon Ndhlovu and Millen Matende in the men’s marathon while in the women’s race Rutendo Nyahora and Fortunate Chidzivo are the representatives.

This year’s championships will see both the men and women’s marathons taking place on the same day for the first time. First on the road will be the men in the morning, followed by the women in the afternoon.

And for Zimbabwe, who are only represented in marathon, all eyes will be fixed on the five athletes who left the country early this week. Nyasango comes in as the torch-bearer for Zimbabwe.

He has had some success throughout his career with his personal best time in marathon being 2hours 9minutes 52seconds, posted in 2014 in Czech Republic.

In 2012 at the Olympic Games, in London, he surprised many with a top 10 finish when he came seventh. He was at the World Championships in 2015.

Juwawo, who travelled to London with Nyasango for the Olympics, yesterday tipped the 35-year-old to have another successful outing.

“I have been away for some time now because of an injury so I have not seen how some of the guys have been doing of late. “But I think this is a good team we have. Looking at Millen Matende and his results he stands a good chance of doing well.

“Cuthbert I think he is also in a good position, we were talking during his preparations. It also depends on the day, how your body will be functioning.

“If things go well he is someone who has been to a lot of events and has the experience for this level.

“For those athletes competing for the first time, they also have a good chance of getting results because they do not have that pressure that comes with having competed with the best athletes before and trying to calculate their chances against them.

“So they can also pull a surprise,” said Juwawo.

The Zvishavane-based runner said it’s not an easy challenge competing at the world meet. “The World Championships are much tougher than the Olympics because everyone is looking at getting their best times.

“But above all qualifying and being chosen to represent one’s country at the World Championships, raising the country’s flag is an honour because for one to reach that level there is stiff competition,” Juwawo said.

Ndhlovu and Nyahora were part of Team Zimbabwe at the Olympics last year. Matende will be aiming to improve his time from 2hours 18minutes 23seconds that saw him making the cut.

And Chidzivo with a time of 2hours 41minutes 54seconds said this is a learning curve since she is competing in a competition of this magnitude for the first time.

The marathon course for tomorrow is a loop course, which will consist of four 10km loops on closed roads, giving spectators a free and intimate view of the world’s best athletes on multiple occasions across the entire route. The 26.2 mile route will make history by starting and finishing at one of London’s most iconic landmarks, Tower Bridge.