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last week when she won the Utrecht  Marathon in the Netherlands.

She clocked 2 hours 35 minutes 26 seconds on her way to winning the race. To date she is the only Zimbabwean with an “A” standard qualifying time with Cuthbert Nyasango, Brighton Chipere and Gilbert Mutandiro having “B” qualifying standards.

The qualifying time standard for the London Olympics is 2 hours 37 minutes. For the “B” standard an athlete would have run the distance in 2 hours 43 minutes and Thabitha Tsatsa who has run the 42km event this year has her best time at 2 hours 41 seconds.

In a week where Zimbabwe long distance runners shone, Brighton Chipere clocked 2 hours 16 minutes 18 seconds well within the ‘B’ standard set at 2 hours 18 minutes. He was ninth in the Mangyongdae International Marathon in Korea.

Another Zimbabwean, Gilbert Mutandiro, finished fifth in the Zhengki Marathon clocking 2 hours 15 minutes 44 seconds.

His time was 44 seconds shy of the ‘A’ qualifying standard.

Marathon runners still have two months to qualify for the Olympics and with a number of accredited events lined up, more Zimbabweans are expected to qualify.

All three races run by the Zimbabweans are part of the International Association of Athletics Federations accredited races around the world.