ATHLETICS: Mrisho: I want to win a medal at Rio Olympics
Tanzania’s Zakia Mrisho (left) wins the women’s 300m during the Indoor International Match at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland on January 31, 2009. The meeting was between athletes competing in teams for US, Sweden, Germany, Great Britain and a Commonwealth Select. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
The 5,000m runner wants to improve her best time of 14:43 minutes
Mrisho, who has a rich profile on the international stage, will be 32 when the Rio de Janeiro showpiece gets underway
Dar es Salaam. Zakia Mrisho, a veteran short distance runner, has exuded confidence that she will book her 2016 Olympic Games berth early.
Mrisho, who has a rich profile on the international stage, will be 32 when the Rio de Janeiro showpiece gets underway.
The Singida-born athlete told The Citizen on Saturday yesterday that she was in top shape and ready to improve on her best time.
Mrisho, who mainly competes in the 5,000-metre events, has the best time of 14:43.00 minutes, but vowed to improve and seal her place in the Olympics.
“I had a busy year coupled with injuries, but I am fit now and my target is to get the qualifying marks for the Rio Games as soon as possible,” she said.
“I have for nearly two decades been competing and winning medals in 5,000m races, but I want to get my marks early and try to secure qualification in the 10,000m event,” she added.
Mrisho has spent over a year training in Italy and competing in top championships, but after missing the 2014 commonwealth Games in London, she has expressed her determination to bag a medal at the 2016 Games.
“I have a dream of winning a medal at the Olympics in Brazil. Tanzania hasn’t won a medal for many years and I want to break that curse come the Rio event,” she said.
Mrisho attended her first major international athletics competition in 2003, taking part in the 3,000 metres in which she finished sixth.
She won the Cinque Mulini cross country meeting in 2004, becoming the first Tanzanian woman to do so.
Mrisho was selected for the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and managed to finish in the 20th place in the long race.
She came sixth in the 5,000m at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and third at the World Athletics Final (3000m) a month later.
The soft-spoken runner represented Tanzania at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, finishing eighth in the 5,000m final.
At the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships she was 23rd overall, but she was less successful on the track, failing to make it out of the 5,000m heats of the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.
