TINASHE NCUBE
Zvishavane based Zimbabwe Paralympics legend Elliott Mujaji is seeking sponsorship to attend World Masters Athletics Competitions set for Sweden in August this year.
Mujaji confirmed his plea to the Diplomat highlighting that he needs to attend the competitions with three other Olympians, Temba Ncube, Gabriel Chikomo and Tabitha Tsatsa.
The quadrate needs USD$ 6000 each to cover airfares, accommodation and registration fee for the championships.
Elliot Mujaji is a retired Zimbabwean track and field athlete with a good track record at the Paralympic Games. He won a gold medal at the 2000 games in Sydney, performing a 100m T46 race and another gold medal in 2004 in Athens.
He is a member of Zimbabwe’s national athletics team, he qualified to compete at the 1998 Commonwealth Games before suffering severe burns in an electrical accident while at work. His right arm was amputated, and he remained in a coma for two months.
After recovering, he resumed training, and qualified to compete at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. He was the fastest runner in the heats of the 200 metres sprint but was disqualified for having encroached on another lane. He won gold in the 100 metres sprint – Zimbabwe’s first ever Paralympic gold medal.
Mujaji competed again at the 2004 Summer Paralympics, and once again won gold in the 100 metres sprint. He also took part in the 2008 and 2012 editions of the Paralympics for the third and fourth time, competing in the 100m and 200m sprints in Beijing and 100m in London.
The World Masters Athletics Championships is a large-scale event, running for two weeks and engaging over 8000 participating athletes, all over 35 years old, representing over 100 nations.
The organisers estimate that more than 20 000 people including athletes and their travel companions, will attend the event taking place in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city between 13 and 25 August 2024.
Sweden has hosted World Masters Athletics Championships once before in Gothenburg 1977.
