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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
TOP female long distance runner, Rutendo Nyahora, says the cancellation of many marathon races, including some she wanted to use to try and qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games, has left her shattered.

The National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe revealed the races they had earmarked for qualification, for their athletes, were been cancelled or postponed.

This left them in a dilemma.

Countries across the globe have been suspending sporting activities as they battle to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Zimbabwe has had long distance runners qualifying for the Olympics in the past and it’s one area the athletics mother body were hoping to have some athletes competing at the global showcase set for July 24 to August 9.

Nyahora, who represented the country at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, was set to take part in the Vienna marathon on April 19, hoping to secure her ticket to this year’s Games.

But, the race was cancelled.

“I’m disturbed now, I can’t believe that all the effort I was putting in was for nothing, it’s so painful,’’ she said.

‘‘My training was going accordingly, I decided to test my fitness with a marathon race to see if I am able to run a tempo run under 4minutes per kilometre, all went well.

“I finished my marathon in 2 hours 44 minutes, it didn’t take me time to recover after the race compared to last year.

‘‘I feel like my Olympics dream has been shattered.”

The other athletes, who have been working with NAAZ towards qualification, are Munyaradzi Jari, Isaac Mpofu, Ngonidzashe Ncube, Ethel Sibanda and Fortunate Chidzivo.

They have all been affected as their targeted races have been cancelled.

Sibanda, Mpofu and Ncube were set to run at the Enschede marathon in the Netherlands next month.

Jari was supposed to compete in the Hannover marathon in Germany while Chidzivo was set to compete in the the Prague marathon.

Jari said although it’s disappointing, they also have to look at the positive side as the world fights against the virus.

“It’s painful but there is nothing we can do. But, we appreciate the fact that they are taking into consideration the athletes’ health and also trying to prevent the virus from spreading.

‘‘Yes, competitions have been cancelled but I believe this is not going to last forever.

“We are just afraid that, if the Olympics do not change dates, it will be painful for us,” said Jari.

Following his World Championships appearance last year, Jari feels he has a good chance of qualifying for the Olympics.

“Going to the Olympics has been on my list. When I went for the World Championships, I saw that I have a chance, so even if I miss this year, there is still 2024.

“I will continue training. We hope that we may get one or two races before end of May, so we will not stop our preparations,” Jari said.

Another athlete, Sibanda, said she has been putting in a lot of work towards the qualifiers.

“This is so painful. I have trained very hard, spent a lot for my training. It’s very disappointing, I had high expectations for this.

‘‘But I am still training, maybe we will get another race.

“So I will try to forget about all this and focus on races to come,” said Sibanda.

Sibanda was in South Africa early this month together with Mpofu and Ncube where they participated in the Harry Gwala half marathon as part of their build-up to the qualifiers.

NAAZ boss Tendai Tagara said this has put them in a difficult situation but urged athletes to keep training.

“We have asked athletes to train in small numbers, or individually. We have asked marathon runners to continue focusing and training,” said Tagara