via Kirsty Coventry to Represent Zim in 2016 Olympics 05.11.2013 by Michael Kariati for VOA Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s swimming icon, Kirsty Coventry, has declared that she will be represent Zimbabwe in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games despite her failure to win medals in the last world competition
Speaking at a public forum today titled “Food for Thought: Sacrifice, Persevere, Believe”, organized by the U.S Embassy, Coventry said she will be at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games which will be her last since arriving on the international stage at the 2004 Games in Athens.
She noted that when she hit the big sports scene, her aim was to win medals at the Olympic Games and now her dream is to win one or two medals before she is thrown into the history books.
Coventry bemoaned over the state of sport in the country saying a huge gap has been created between her time and now, adding that something needs to be done urgently if Zimbabwe was to get back to the top.
As a result, she said, she is setting up an academy in Harare whose target would be to identify talented swimmers and expose them to high level training.
Coventry is widely regarded as the most successful Zimbabwe sportsperson with four medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and three in Beijing China.
After failing to win a medal at the London Olympics, word was that she will be calling it quits but she is giving it another chance.
COMMENTS
[…] From : Zimbabwesituation.com […]
Go kirsty go!
You go Kirsty
Go Kirsty. We got your back 100%. But soon, Zimbabwe will need young blood to represent it. Kirsty, as good as she is, is not getting any younger. But how can we have new blood representing Zimbabwe when zanu-pf is such a pervasive cancer that it has destroyed everything in the country, including sports. Other countries continue to bring up young and up and coming athletes. With zanu-pf in power, even the sports facilities that are suppose to help train and nurture new talent are in a state of disrepair. Funding is also unavailable because the private sector which should be doing the funding, is so ill from disastrous zanu-pf economic policies (oh yeah thats right, they don’t have an economic policy, except the looting one). Get rid of zanu-pf and we will have more kirsty coventries in the future
Wish you all best girl. Our kids need swimmimg pools and swimming coaches: please think of how you could help us achieve in this sporting field.
You should be asking Kirsty to help you help yourselves, not asking her to think for you as to how to solve the problem. Instead of asking kirsty to think how she can help us black zimbabweans in the field of swimming, how about we black zimbabweans at large start thinking about helping ourselves achieve something in that field and solving our own problems in general. Have the AU and SADC solved Zimbabwe’s problems? Has the west solved our problems? Have the chinese solved our problems? No. Thats what happens when we constantly rely on other people to help us black zimbabweans. Its high time we got of our behinds and started doing something. Its our country afterall is it not?
Is there enough non-bilharzia water in Zimbabwe for a swimming pool!