Malawi’s top short distance athlete Asimenye Simwaka has breathed a sigh of relief after authorities cleared her to take part in a 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifier.
Simwaka’s participation in Senior African Athletics Championship in Cameroon was in doubt due to the 21-day mourning period which President Lazarus Chakwera declared in honour of the late former vice president Saulos Klaus Chilima and eight others.
They died in a plane crash in Chikangawa Forest on June 10.
Following the declaration, the Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) suspended all sporting events until further notice.
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MNCS Chief Executive Officer Henry Kamata said Simwaka’s issue is exceptional and that she would, therefore, be allowed to travel to Cameroon.
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“To every general rule there is an exception. In this case, it is an international tournament and not a local one. We have also considered other factors in the best interest of her career and the country’s prospects at the major event. It is unlike local ones, which we, as a nation, can manage from within,” Kamata said.
Kamata also said the Malawi Junior Chess squad, through Chess Association of Malawi (Chessam), sought clearance from the institution before travelling to Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa for African Youth Chess Championship.
Malawi Olympic Committee Secretary General Henry Sakala, whose body is facilitating Simwaka’s training with support from Olympic Solidarity, described the development as a source of relief.
“We were actually panicking about what was going to happen. Simwaka has been training for some time in preparation for the Olympics. She qualified to take part in the qualifier. Had she failed, Malawi’s slot could have been affected,” Sakala said.
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Sakala hailed MNCS for handling the issue professionally considering that the nation is mourning the death of the nine sons and daughters of the soil.
“We are all mourning the tragedy and when sporting events were suspended everyone appreciated the decision,” Sakala said.
Sakala said it could have been a huge blow to the nation if Simwaka had missed the Olympics qualifier following the withdrawal of Stern Liffa, who is scheduled to undergo Malawi Defence Force interviews during the same period.
“Just like Asimenye, Stern also qualified for the Senior African Championship but due to other commitments, he will not travel,” he said.
The championship in Douala, Cameroon, starts from June 21 to 28 while the MDF interviews will take place from June 17 to 25, placing Liffa in a hard place.
Simwaka could not be reached but she told The Nation on Sunday that she was ready for the championship.
“The camp training we had in Lilongwe is good enough as it is much better than previous preparations. All I can say is that I am ready and good to go,” she told the paper.
Recently, Simwaka set a new national record of 11.56 seconds, beating her previous feat of 11.68 in 100m. In 200m, she clocked 23.16 to beat her previous record by 12 milliseconds.
Liffa finished in 10.22 seconds in 100m, 11 milliseconds faster than his previous record.
