EDITORIAL: Tanzania should take athletics seriously

Bronze medallist Alphonce Simbu made Tanzanians proud in recent World Athletics Championships in London.

Simbu — a long-distance runner — clocked 2:09:41 to finish the third. He has become the second Tanzanian to win a medal in the world athletics championships. Christopher Isegwe was the first Tanzania runner to win the medal in a similar event.

Isegwe won a silver medal in 2005 in Helsinki in 2005 after clocking 2.10.41. Twelve years later Simbu made the country proud after winning in a major athletics event. When Isegwe won the medal, Simbu was 13 years old.

In a country that suffered years of a dearth of a medal in athletics, Simbu’s win is no small feat.

Tanzanians are happy with the outcome, but they should not be complacent. They should create a friendlier environment to produce many top-notch athletes. In Ikungi, Singida, where Simbu comes from, there is a centre that has been preparing young people to run. Tanzania can do better. Schools should be encouraged to nurture talents as it was done in the 1970s and 1980s to produce runners of the calibre of Filbert Bayi, Suleiman Nyambui, Juma Ikangaa and Gidamis Shahanga.

Simbu’s road to success was rocky. But the 25-year-old never despaired whenever challenges arose. His perseverance has paid off. The victory has enabled him to strike a deal with MultiChoice Tanzania, through DSTV. We call on companies to support athletics as the government is short of money to fund all sports bodies.

Early this week, the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports announced that the government had inadequate funds to facilitate all sports activities as it had priority projects to undertake such as the construction of a Dodoma complex in which Sh1.8 billion has been set aside in its 2017/18 budget.

Tanzania has many potential athletes, but they have not been identified and nurtured. Let’s take athletics seriously.