Blow for Under-20 in Lima as Kumevu suffers injury
Calistus Kolantsho | Wednesday August 28, 2024 16:11
Kumevu is scheduled to compete in the 400m heats together with Thabang Monngathipa at 7pm.
Kumevu is seeded in lane five of heat one while Monngathipa is in lane eight of heat six.
Head coach, Nico Manyepedza told Mmegi Sport that the boys are ready for the race but Kumevu is injured.
“Kumevu has quadriceps strain, I do not think he will compete to his potential or he will not compete at all. We will see how he reacts today,” he said.
Regarding the performance of the mixed relay team, Manyepedza said it was always going to be a challenge since local female runners lag behind.
“They still lag behind, looking at the Personal Bests they had coming here. The likes of Warona Thonisani had 58.00, Ame Bogoma came in with 56.01. It was Bogoma’s national team debut, she was nervous. Other girls from countries such as Spain brought 51.00, it was always going to be a problem,” he said.
Mamyepedza said no matter how fast the boys were going to run, girls were going to struggle. He said even the senior mixed relay team and 4x400m relay team struggles, which means there is need to focus on female athletes' development.
The Under-20 mixed relay quartet of Justice Oratile (first leg), Thonisani (second leg), Keorapetse Oreokame (third leg) and Bogoma (anchor), finished in position seven with a season’s best (SB) of 3:32.75.
The team did not proceed to the next round of the competition. Germany and Jamaica finished in position one and two respectively to qualify for the second round.