Three junior athletes from the National Sports Academy made history at the Confederation of Schools Sports Association of Southern Africa (COSSASA) games held in Bulawayo at the White City Stadium when they dominated events to help Team Zimbabwe to a record medal haul.
Shalom Sandi (16), Tanaka Ruziwe (15) and Anesu Nyahuma (15) won 6 medals and dominated their events against athletes from Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, and Zambia.
The trio are part of the Bindura University of Science Education National Sports Academy on a scholarship at Chipindura High School.
Shalom was arguably the athlete of the games with three gold medals in the Under 17 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events. Anesu decimated her competition in the Under 17 400m, winning gold in a time of 57.24 seconds. Anesu also helped Team Zimbabwe win bronze in the 4x400m relay.
Tanaka narrowly missed a podium finish in his Under 17 400m race but won silver in the 4x100m relay race. Tanaka’s performance impressed many as he had qualified for the games as an Under-15 but was shifted to the Under 17 categories due to COSSASA’s new guidelines.
Cuban coach Carlos Manuel Isidoria Wuitar, who is attached to the University, highlighted his delight in the trio’s performances.
“The times they ran shows that the training camp we had worked very well. Shalom ran 25.2 seconds in the 200m and 12.21 in the 100m. Anesu ran 57.24s while Tanaka had a photo-finish race. I am proud of them,” he said.
Three-time Olympian and Academy coach Cuthbert Nyasango said he was impressed by the overall performance of the Academy athletes and also several other athletes from Team Zimbabwe.
“The performance was commendable and shows the progress the three have made. I identified several other athletes who we hope to engage as the Academy. Our target is to work towards qualification for the Junior Olympics in 2026 so recruiting promising athletes now gives us time to work with them and meet qualification times,” said Nyasango.
The COSSASA games are a regional competition which pits high school students from across the SADC region. It is meant to be an annual event and affords students the chance to test themselves against the best athletes in the region.
