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Ellina Mhlanga, Harare Bureau

ZIMBABWE’S chef de mission for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Thabani Gonye, has encouraged national associations to enter early qualifying events and avoid missing out in the event their targeted qualifiers are cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, there has been uncertainty, postponement and cancellation of some qualifying events because of the threat posed by the virus worldwide.

During a management meeting recently with shortlisted sport codes — aquatics (swimming), athletics, boxing, equestrian, golf, judo, rowing and rugby sevens — to appreciate how their preparations and qualifying events are going, it came out some of the targeted qualifiers had been postponed and some cancelled. 

Gonye said the responsibility on the way forward in the face of the virus has been given to International Federations but as Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) urged national associations not to wait until the last minute to try and qualify as there is possibility of events being cancelled.

“Certainly I think that has affected, it’s no longer a secret that this is an issue. It’s a topical issue across the world and being in the global world and the sport also being one of those areas that can be affected it’s given that some of the qualifiers are also now being cancelled, some of them may be postponed.

“So I think the attitude and the responsibility has been given to the International Federations to make the call in terms of which way they will go in terms of the qualifiers. Whether they will go ahead, whether they will reconfigure any of the qualifying criteria that they would have prescribed at the beginning of the qualification process that would be something that I think there will obviously be definite indications of which way they have to go.

“But our attitude as ZOC is approach to say the Games will happen as planned on the calendar and our preparations should go within that cycle of saying the Games will be done as per schedule from the 24th of July.

“And anything that we can do is just (to encourage) the national associations now to not bank on the initial qualifying events that they were targeting but to try and secure events that are nearer, so that the athletes have more opportunities to qualify than to bank on events scheduled let’s say for May.

“Can they look at events that are earlier so that they try to qualify now and then afterwards the only fear will be whether the Games go ahead or not, at least we would have a team that is secure that we know we are supporting, and it’s just a matter of them participating at the Games. So that’s the way we have done,” said Gonye.

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee has encouraged athletes to continue with their preparations for the Olympic Games scheduled for July 24 to August 9 in Tokyo, Japan.  And the Japanese government have indicated they have no plans to alter the Olympics. 

So far rowing has secured a slot in the men’s single sculls and will have an event where they will select the athlete for the slot.  

Boxing had three boxers at a qualifier held in Senegal but failed to make the grade, while the other sport codes are still trying to qualify.