Sports Reporter
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe have engaged top German coach, Gunter Lange, for the World Athletics Level Two middle and long distance course in November.

There have been some encouraging signals, from middle and long distance runners, over the years.

The national association are now pushing to complement athletes’ effort, to try and help them realise their potential, which could result in podium performances.

NAAZ president, Tendai Tagara, said they were looking at 15 participants taking part in the 10-day course they will host.

“This will be the first World Athletes (WA) Level Two for middle and long distance to be run outside the Regional Development Centre in Kenya.

“The course will have only 15 participants, according to World Athletics, and it will run for 10 days.

‘‘Currently, we are running around to raise US$10 000 to cover the cost of the course.

“Mr Gunter was the World Athletics director, for more than 10 years, and retired last year in November to pursue consultancy.

‘‘Presently, he is a senior lecturer for World Athletics, responsible for running middle and long distance courses.

“He is also the brains behind the successful Uganda project that has produced world champions, and Olympic champions, in middle and long distance in Uganda.

“He set the foundation for their High Performance Centre, with the support of the German Government, for the last  eight years, he has supervised and monitored it,” said Tagara.

Tagara said Gunter will also work on plans to establish a High Performance Centre in the country.

Zimbabwean athletes have been relying on neighbouring countries, such as South Africa and Botswana, for better facilities, when they prepare for major events.

“The project we are pursuing is the same like the one in Uganda, which has produced global champions.

“According to WA, the course requires two lecturers, whom they will appoint and we have requested Mr Gunter to be the course director so that, besides the course, he will have the opportunity to assess our proposal and meet relevant people of the project.

“Remember, we had a short-term German support programme in 2017 and were were supposed to have the medium-term project in November.

‘‘The long-term project is four years, then it can be renewed. That’s the route the Uganda project took,” said Tagara.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey