Isaac Mpofu Carries the Flag for Zimbabwe in the Men's Marathon

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[Image Credit: https://www.chronicle.co.zw]

 All eyes will be on Isaac Mpofu as the only Zimbabwean athlete remaining in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Will he bring home the only medal that Zimbabwe has yet to claim at the Paris Games?

The 35-year-old Mpofu, a police officer by profession, holds a personal record of 2:07 and hopes to break the Olympic record of 2:06:32, held by Wanjiru Samuel Kamau. Mpofu will compete against elite runners such as Kelvin Kiptum, who holds the world record at 2:00:35, Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya, with a time of 2:01:09, and Kenenisa Bekele, who has a personal best of 2:01:41.

According to newzimbabwe.com, Mpofu has been training for this race since 2022. He has also been training in Harare, which is at high altitude. Mpofu believes that the low-altitude conditions in Paris will work to his advantage. As noted by marathonhandbook.com, training at altitude has long been a practice among elite runners and Olympic athletes in endurance sports to help enhance their performance.

The men's marathon Olympic final is set for tomorrow (10 August) at 08:00 hrs Central Africa Time (CAT, UTC+2).



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