Malawi’s top short distance female athlete Asimenye Simwaka continued with her rise, setting a new personal and national record in 100m during the Senior African Athletics Championship in Cameroon despite failing to meet the standard Olympic Games qualifying time.
However, the Malawi Olympic Committee (Moc) is confident that Simwaka would be part of Team Malawi to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics as the organisers consider athletes’ individual rankings to feature at the games under Universality.
Simwaka set the record in the semifinals when she ran 11:35, making her the first female local athlete to run this fast.
In the 100m final, Simwaka finished sixth with 11:49. Gina Mariam Bitaye of Gambia emerged winner after posting 11:14 while Maia McCoy of Liberia was second in 11:16. Maboundou Kone of Ivory Coast finished third in 11:24.
They all failed to meet the standard Olympic qualification time of 11:07.
She reached the semifinals after she ran a record of 11:51, which was her personal best but also national record for 100m in Malawi.
Simwaka, who travelled without a coach, could not be reached.
Her coach Pachisi Nyasulu said the athlete should be commended as she was up against the best.
“She did well setting new personal and national records. She was against top athletes and we need to encourage her,” Nyasulu said.
Moc Secretary General Henry Mereka said Simwaka will likely be part of Team Malawi as the authorities would consider her overall ranking and recent performances.
“The method they use to allocate athletes on Universality is to consider athletes who are on good rankings based on their previous performance. They also consider gender and come up with selected athletes after recommendations from IFs [international federations] of several sport codes since they are the ones who maintain data for each and every athlete who competes at IFs-sanctioned competitions around the globe.
“This time around, Malawi will still compete in Paris through slots which may be allocated to us on Universality. Olympic Games are universal games and Malawi cannot be left out. Malawi athletes will appear in Paris to showcase their talent,” Sakala said.
Sakala said Simwaka should be applauded for her feat, which makes her the 100m national record holder in 11:35.
“Surely she is the first female athlete in Malawi to run 11:35 seconds. She deserves a pat on her back for being the athlete of the nation at the moment. Again this time will push her rankings on World Athletics,” he said.
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