Africa-Press – Tanzania. ATHLETICS Tanzania (AT) Vice-President John Bayo has said the instability caused by Covid-19 threat in some countries is hampering runners seeking qualification for the Tokyo Olympics Games.
Bayo said travel restrictions hurt many local runners who are seeking qualifications outside the country. ” As you know the Coronavirus situation has not been stable globally while countries lined up to host the qualifying series are still struggling to put it under control”.
“This has caused the cancelation and delay of many qualifying series thus denying our runners chances to qualify,” he said.
Only two local runners, Alphonce Simbu and Failuna Matanga have so far qualified for the games. The Olympics Games were to be staged mid last year in Tokyo, Japan, but were pushed forward to mid-July this year because of Coronavirus global pandemic. Bayo told The ‘Daily News’ on Thursday from Arusha 14 local runners are in training camp in Arusha gauging for the games’ qualifications.
“We are making communications with other friends to see how these 12 runners can travel to secure qualifications,” he said.
Otherwise, he said that the runners who are under supervision of two coaches including Thompson John are doing well with their preparations.
“They have been provided with all necessary needs to make sure that they smoothly prepare for the games,” he said.
Among those in the camp includes the country’s long distance runner Augustino Sulle who is expected to compete in the Hamburg Marathon scheduled to take place in Germany on April 18. The other notable runners in the camp include Simbu, Failuna and Gabriel Geay.
Currently, there are very few Olympic qualifying opportunities in the Marathon due to the coronavirus pandemic. “This is my chance to secure a qualifying ticket to the Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan, from July 23 to August 8. I am in Arusha preparing for the event,” he said.
He has been in an intensive training, but postponement of many Olympics qualifying events hindered him from securing the required qualifying marks. Apart from runners, Tanzania also expects to send amateur boxers, judokas and swimmers to the Games which are held quadrennially.
Other reports have it that the Judokas are also in intensive training at Ukonga for the qualifying events to be held in Morocco, while amateur boxers are awaiting a decision from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Task Force to select the names as per rankings.
The decision has been taken following cancellation of the qualifying events which were slated to take place in Paris, France, next month due to travelling restrictions imposed by the government of France on account of the still raging Covid-19 viral pandemic.
Traditionally, the local sports associations that intend to send teams to Tokyo have their respective national camps before they hand over the qualified athletes to the Tanzania Olympics Committee (TOC).
Since the inception of the games in 1960’s, Tanzania has managed to win only two silver medals won by former legends Filbert Bayi and Suleiman Nyambui.
