MBABANE – A decision to fly, instead of road travel to the CAA-Southern Region Seniors Championships in Zimbabwe has paid dividends for Team Eswatini.
Eswatini returned with two medals from the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) event, which concluded yesterday. One was a gold from the 5000 metres, which was won by Ncamiso Hlatjwako two days ago. Yesterday, the 4x400m men’s relay team capped off the two-day regional showpiece with a bronze medal. The complete relay team comprised Mthulisi Khoza, Thandaza Zwane, Mlandvo Maziya, Mcebo Mkhaliphi and Thabiso Shongwe. Mkhaliphi was a reserve.
Athletics Eswatini (AE) and the CAA-SR President, Zakhele Dlamini, said it was a time for celebration for the country. Dlamini said the catalyst for this performance was flying the athletes, as opposed to travelling by road to the host nation.
“It just took us one and a half hours to arrive here (Zimbabwe) which gave us enough time to do some final touch-ups before the competition, as well as familiarising ourselves with the tracks,” he said. A source privy to the information said the air tickets cost about E110 000, as it was estimated to cost around E5 500 per person.
Previously, the athletes have been using the ESRC’s 35-seater bus to travel to regional competitions such as the CAA Southern Region Relays and Hurdles Championships 2025 held in March and the Region V Games that were staged in Namibia. One of the athletes who had once travelled by bus to a regional competition, but preferred to remain unknown, said: “Look, they were going to be on the road for about two days, a stretch of cramped seats and limited movement. By the time the competition finally arrived, they wouldn’t have had a chance to properly recover from the fatigue and draining muscle stiffness that comes with such a tiring journey.’’
Full story in today’s paper.
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