Zimbabwe’s President Mnangagwa to unveil Paralympic Games set to run for 2 weeks

President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to officially open Zimbabwe National Youth and Paralympic Games at Mkoba Stadium in Gweru. It is expected to attract more than 3,000 athletes for the two-week event.

Zimbabwe National Youth and Paralympic Games will run for two weeks. Two blocks have been created with athletes battling it out in track, field, off-field competitions and ball games. Successful athletes will represent Zimbabwe at the upcoming continental competitions.

Sporting disciplines underway for the Under-23s include athletics, chess, volleyball, basketball, netball, football, darts and pool. Monday witnessed the first block comprising of the Under 23s and open Paralympic categories for the newly-introduced virtual provinces taking off with all athletes fighting for medals and places in the national team, as reported by The Herald.

Categories for Paralympic athletics competition in Zimbabwe consist of hearing impaired, visually impaired intellectually challenged and amputees' races. On the other hand, the wheelchair competitions were cancelled after three provinces fielded teams in comparison to minimum four provinces required. Even blind football had also been dropped after one province fielded teams.

The second block consisting of the Under 18 categories will run from August 4 to 10. "Everything in terms of accommodation, food and all the necessary logistics have been put in place. We have been moving around with the local organising committee trying to ensure that every detail has been attended to. So we are very much geared to host these rebranded games," Prince Mupazviriho, the Director General of Sports and Recreation Commission opined at a press briefing at Gweru Polytechnic College.

Zimbabwe National Youth and Paralympic Games' CEO, James Chivivi said that none of the athletes would confront challenges throughout their stay as the numbers had been reduced to manageable levels. "This is Midlands, the heart of the whole country, and I assure you that no athlete is going to sleep on the floor. All our institutions are ready to accommodate these athletes. When it comes to feeding, we are trying our level best to put the bolts and nuts together to make sure that from day one they are going to find their food ready," he added.

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