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| Sports |
| Athletes fail to qualify for Olympics |
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by
Oris Chimenya, 13 July 2004
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12:38:26
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All athletes who gathered in Zomba on Saturday for this year’s Olympic Games trials failed to qualify for the world event.
Dairibord (Malawi) Limited splashed out cash prizes worthy K252,000 (about $2,300) at the trials which saw about 200 athletes tried in 1,500m, 10,000m, 8,000m 5,000m, 800m, 400m, 100m and shot-put but none qualified for the August 13-29 Olympics to be held in Athens, Greece.
But the Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) says the country should not lose heart because Catherine Chikwakwa and Francis Munthali still have a chance to qualify.
Chikwakwa will be participating in Italy’s International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF) junior event on Tuesday while Munthali will be running in Congo on July 14, 2004 in the 14th African Championships in athletics.
Chikwakwa left the country on Thursday last week while Munthali left last Sunday.
AAM secretary general Haxson Chapasa said on Monday in an interview things can change.
“We should not lose heart because Chikwakwa and Munthali can upset tables. They can qualify and not go on solidarity.
“Things can change anytime. I am just reading here of [Marion] Jones (a US 100m female ex-champion) who has failed to qualify. Nobody knew Jones would fail,” said Chapasa.
He said athletics is better unlike other disciplines because even if an athlete qualifies a day before the Olympics, he or she can be registered and participate.
But Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association of Malawi (Ocgam) president Jerome Waluza disclosed in a separate interview that Chikwakwa and Munthali have already been identified to go even if they fail during their final chances.
“For the athletes in Zomba, we did not bank on them much because we knew that they would not qualify. I think everybody knows that Chikwakwa is the best female athlete, but for Munthali, I can’t say why but I believe he has been taken because of the Manchester International Olympic Committee (IOC) scholarship which he got in 2000,” said Waluza.
During the trials Wakisa Kaliembe finished 100m in 11:06 against the Olympic’s time of 10:28, Kondwani Chiwina finished 1500m in 3:58 against the required 3:37 while John Kayange completed 5000m in 15:06 against Olympic’s standard time of 13:25.
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