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Tony starts Tanzania’s hunt for gold

WHEN world record holder Usain Bolt was sensationally disqualified from the world 100m final on Sunday, it was all melancholy for Tanzania’s representative at the recent World University Games in China.

Tony Kazimoto, the lad from Ardhi University who represented Tanzania in the World Student Games that ended last week went to take part in 100 and 200m competition and his performance was a mix of good and more learning.

“It’s the start of a long journey. I am embarking on reaching where many may think is unimaginable, here,'' he said in an interview.

Given his current resolve, he is quietly nursing huge ambitions of sneaking onto the medals podium to put the country into the ‘track winning equation’ as the case is for Ethiopia and Kenya.

For a young man who was having his first taste of world championships, his performance was as quite impressive as it was a stimulant for bigger dreams. “I trained with 4 different coaches from different countries.

I am now preparing for my season to start in December, but Iam confident that the world games have opened me up to greater challenges,” said Kazimoto.

While Kazimoto came 6th out of 9 runners in the 200m race in China, he seemed to have faced what world Champion Usain Bolt was to face on Sunday.

Kazimoto also experienced a catastrophic false start in the 100m race, a development he says has built him stronger on the track when he represents the country in future global competitions.

When I met the first year Architecture student at a health club, the Genesis gym where he trains in Dar es Salaam regularly, Kazimoto said his journey to the team started in June this year when he joined the camp for trials.

“I was called to the national team in June this year and was able to secure a chance to take part in East and Central African Championships,” he said.

But then, in a twist of fate that seemed to prepare him for games beyond the East and Central Africa borders, he got injured shortly while on routine training and was out for two months.

On his recent travel, he was able to train with coaches from Jamaica, Namibia, United States …. “That is when I started noticing things I had not worked on,” he said. “That is the time you learn how to have a medal winning mentality,” he said.

That is the sort of vantage point the amiable Kazimoto had to operate from. As he prepares for his next season which starts in December, he said he would still be able to take part in the 2013 University games since he would still not be done with studies.

“It has been a step. I associated with coaches in different countries. It has been a series of life time experiences,” he said, adding that he hopes to take part in the same games in Kazan, Russia in 2013.