Israel Saria
Tanzania Olympic Committee (TOC) has made a call to all sports disciplines in the country to start preparations for the 2012 London Olympics to avoid another international poor display.
TOC secretary general Filbert Bayi said the country performed poorly at the just ended All Africa Games in Mozambique because of inadequate preparations.
To avoid the repetition, sports disciplines that would represent the country at the Games should start preparations in earnest.
Bayi was speaking this with The Guardian in response to poor showing by Tanzania athletes at the Games in Mozambique.
He advised all sports disciplines not to depend on the Government for their activities related to the Games including preparation. Each sports body must make own plans to generate funds to meet the Olympics demand.
He said for any competition there is a need to have comprehensive preparations as early as possible to do away with rush hour.
“We did not perform well at the Mozambique All Africa Games partly due to poor preparations, so for the country to avoid another embarrassment we must start gearing up for the 2012 England Games,” he said.
Bayi said the national netball team performed well at the Games as a result of long-planned preparations ahead of the event.
The team claimed a silver medal at the Games, the most notable milestone in the history of the Games for Tanzania.
Bayi was also against the tendency by some sports disciplines and athletes who start full training whenever an international tournament is around the corner.
Legendary Bayi said any serious athlete should keep on training even when there is no event in sight.
“In our days, we were training every day. I think that is the reason we were top athletes, but that trend is not common nowadays,” he said.
Tanzania was represented by judo, athletics, boxing, Paralympics, women football and netball team at the Maputo Games, but it was only netball team which managed to return home with silver medal.
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