By Miguel Suleyman, The Citizen Reporter  
Dar es Salaam. Though athletes have sky-rocketed Tanzania’s success on the global arena, a few notable achievements in soccer, heralded the best from the best in sports.

Still respected as a legendary striker Peter Tino’s second half equaliser in the Africa Cup of Nations second leg tie against Zambia in Ndola in 1979, is one of the rare, but vital occasions that gave Tanzanians a profound joy.
Peter Tino holds a treasured place in the hearts of football-loving Tanzanians.

All over the country sports fans cherished Tino as the hero who earned Tanzania its maiden ticket to    play in the finals of the biggest continental level event
His goal earned Tanzania a 3-2 aggregate victory against the formidable Zambian squad boosted by highflying Godfrey Chitalu, Peter Kaimana, Jan Simulambo and Dickson Makwaza.

 “We were accorded a warm welcome by a huge crowd when we arrived home from Zambia. Bewildered fans were happy to see their country play in the finals for the first time, 20 years after independence,” recalls Adolf Rishard, the team’s midfield maestro, now turned a coach.

Custodian Juma Pondamali, who made countless daring saves in the match, stopper Leodeger Tenga and strikers Mohamed Salim and Thuwein Ally also played brilliantly in the historic win.

“I have a street in Zambia named after my name,” Juma Pondamali, now a goalkeepers coach said recently when The Citizen reporter interviewed him recently.  

During the finals held at the Sulurele Stadium in Lagos, Tanzania lost 1-3 to the host Nigeria in the opener, lost 1-2 to Egypt in their second match posting a 1-1 draw with Cote d’Ivoire in their third match. In that era, the soccer stars’ fame even eclipsed Filbert Bayi, Tanzania’s top most sports hero. With his Commonwealth Games 1500m record remaining unbroken for 37 years, Filbert Bayi is undisputable the master of Tanzanian sporting excellence as the country matches to its 50th  year anniversary today.

Bayi, then a youthful athlete, won his first international acclaim in 1973 when he beat the world legend, Kipchoge Keino, to win a gold  in the 1500- metre thriller during the All Africa Games held in the then Nigerian capital, Lagos.Bayi clinched Tanzania’s first gold in the event while boxer Habib Kinyogoli claimed a silver medal after losing to a Ugandan boxer, John Omolo in a controversial final.

A year later in Christchurch, New Zealand, Bayi won Tanzania’s first gold medal in the Commonwealth Games after beating John Walker of New Zealand and a Kenyan Ben Jipcho in a thrilling 1500m race.

He also broke the world record and the games’ record that has not yet been beaten 37 years later. However, boxing, which has lost its stronghold as  vital medal hope, earned Tanzania its first Club Games medal when Tutus Simba clinched a silver in the 1970 Edinburg Games.

“Titus Simba’s victory inspired us to join the sport since it was a kind of game that East Africa did well in those years,” says former national team boxer, Locken Swai. Titus Simba was a hero during the time when Mohamed Ally, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton were the figureaheads in world boxing. 

Four years later in 1978, little known Gidamis Shahanga took over the stage after winning Tanzania’s second gold in the Club Games held in Edmonton Canada. It was also the first gold in marathon. Filbert Bayi brought home a silver medal after narrowly losing to English Dave Moorcroft in 1500m race.

Arusha-born Shahanga earned Tanzania a second marathon gold in 1982 in the Club Games held in Melbourne, Australia.

The sky-high success of Filbert Bayi and the spectacular Olympic spirit initiated by John Steven forced Tanzania to look for long distance runners in Mbulu District and its neghbouring areas..

Gidamis Shahanga who won two gold medals in the Commonwealth Games, Zebedayo Bayo, Martin Sulle, Geway Suja, and Francis Naali Juma are notable products from the area.

However, what perhaps remains hard to achieve is Filbert Bayi’s  success in 3,000- metre steeplechase. Bayi won a silver medal in the Moscow Olympic Games.

Athletics  pundits  believe the steeple chase record will probably remain unbeaten even in the coming 20 years. Thirty years now, Tanzania has not produced runners of that discipline and there is no plan to have one so far.

“I don’t think the present generation is interested in the race because it is long, tough and sometimes dangerous,” said Bayi during a recent interview with The Citizen.

Since Tanzania gained its world status in 1973, when Filbert Bayi won the country’s first gold in the 1500m race and went on to claim the first Commonwealth Games gold in Christchurch New Zealand a year later, the founding father of the Nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere proclaimed athletics a national sport.

But, the sport, still fails to overshadow soccer largely spearheaded by Simba-Young Africans (Yanga) traditional rivalry.

While Kenya and its long time rival Ethiopia have maintained their athletic prowess, Tanzania has completely faded from the limelight.

Samuel Mwera, who grabbed gold in the last All Africa Games in Algeria, earned Tanzania its last gold at the continental level event while Lwiza John, remains the greatest woman athlete in the recent years after winning bronze in Algeria a month later before being honoured the first Tanzanian woman to win gold medal, were the last success in recent years/

Lwiza won her gold in the Afro-Asian Games held in New Delhi.
For years numerous international athletes troop to train in an annual ritual at Kipchoge Keino academy in Kenya.

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