He might have failed to secure his ticket to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, but Edwin Masuge remains optimistic. Masuge finished in position eight during the finals of the men’s T13 400m on Saturday.
He told MmegiOnline that his plan was to qualify for the Paralympics, but unfortunately that did not happen. Masuge said the championships were automatic qualifiers for athletes who finished between position one to four. “Even though I did not punch my ticket this week, more competitions will be availed,” he said. Meanwhile, Masuge said the Para World Athletics Championships were tough, hence he only qualified for the final as the fastest looser. “The final was even tougher than the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, these competitions did not take place. So now countries had a long time to prepare,” he said.
The Para team coach, Nason ‘Hadji’ Maotwe said they might not have brought a medal, but the games went very well. “Many athletes qualified this time and some managed to record Personal Best (PBs). We have to come back home, rest for some weeks and start to prepare for the next season,” Maotwe said. He said they still have to look for athletes from other classes. Maotwe said athletes are there, but convincing them to come on board is difficult. “I hope as they will be motivated when they see others competing in major competitions,” Maotwe said.
