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Tanzania to field four runners at 2023 world athletics event
Long distance runner in the country Alphonce Simbu poses with the national flag after competing in the past international event. Simbu, together with Emmanuel Giniki, Agostino Sulle and Failuna Matanga, will represent Tanzania in the August World Athletics Championships scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- According to IOC and WA, a male marathoner should get a time of 2:08:10, while a female athlete a time of 2:26:50
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will now field four runners at the World Athletics (WA) Championships scheduled to take place from August 19 to 27 at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary.
This comes after runner Gabriel Geay decided to pull out of the event in order to focus on the Olympic Games scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11 next year at the Stade de France in Paris, France.
Geay was to join Simbu in the event, but Athletics Tanzania (AT) has named other three runners who will represent the country in the championships.
Speaking with The Citizen yesterday, AT secretary general Jackson Ndaweka named the runners as Emmanuel Giniki, Agostino Sulle and Failuna Matanga.
Ndaweka said Giniki has been picked to compete in the event after performing well in international competitions while Sulle will feature in the championships through a wild card.
“This is according to the rules and regulations as we informed World Athletics (WA) about the changes and agreed. So Geay has officially pulled out and is replaced by Sulle,” said Ndaweka.
Ndaweka said Matanga, a famous female runner in the country, will feature in the event in accordance with her impressive position in the WA rankings.
“All the runners have been informed and are now in preparations for the event. They are under their respective coaches and few days before the event, they will set up joint residential camp,” he said. According to IOC and WA, a male marathoner should get a time of 2:08:10, while a female athlete a time of 2:26:50. The Budapest event is the 19th edition, according to the history of the WA Championships.
The city of Budapest had previously shown interest in hosting the 2007 WA event but withdrew and it eventually was held in Osaka, Japan.
"I can say that the runners are in good shape ahead of the events and I believe they will record the best results.
“They have done their best in international competitions to make the country proud," he said.
Meanwhile, World Athletics (WA) has said they will release the World Rankings after the qualification period ahead of the event.
