AfricaPress-Tanzania: FOUR out of 31 regions will miss this year’s national athletics championship organised by Athletics Tanzania (AT), in collaboration with Tanzania Olympic Committee (TOC), which is set to be staged early next week in Dar es Salaam.
The championship which is expected to attract about 300 athletes from 27 regions will be staged at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam from September 12 to 13.
AT Information and Communication Officer, Tullo Chambo said yesterday in Dar es Salaam that the four regions failed to meet the latest confirmation deadline date set for the event, which was August 28th this year.
Chambo named the four regions as Rukwa, Katavi, Lindi and Mtwara, which misses the championship for second consecutive year, after failure to participate in the previous championship staged in Mwanza.
Speaking about preparations of this year’s championship, Chambo said that everything was on track.
“Preparations are going on well as already, over 90 per cent of the championship preparations have been covered to-date,” he said.
He further added all participants are required to report at the Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE), where all athletes, who will compete in the two-day championship, will be accommodated.
According to AT, the event which is among the major competitions in the association’s calendar will be used to pick the best athletes for the national teams, which will represent the country in various international meets.
The championship will involve various field and track events such as 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5,000m and 10,000m races, Relay for 100X 4 and 4X 400 events, long jump, triple jump, Discus, Shot Put as well as Javelin throws.
The previous championship was held in Mwanza region where Kusini Unguja emerged the overall winners.
TOC, who have partnered with AT in this year’s championship will facilitate the event with support from Olympic Solidarity (OS) and Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA).
And, TOC will assist AT train athletes, who will be picked from the championship and later sent to compete in various Olympics qualifications events.
To-date, only two athletes – Alphonce Simbu and Failuna Matanga have met the Olympic Games qualification standards.
