by Philip Richards

Commonwealth Games and World Athletics Championships
Tanzania’s delegation of 17 athletes who participated in the 22nd Commonwealth Games must have felt very much at home in the heat of the British summer, and left Birmingham with 1 silver and 2 bronze medals for their efforts. This was hailed as a success as it was the country’s first medals since the 2006 Games. Alphonce Felix Simbu earned the silver medal in the men’s marathon event behind the winner Victor Kiplangat of Uganda. Simbu’s time of 2:12:29 was 1:34 behind the Ugandan, and 47 seconds in front of third place Kenyan Michael Githae. For the East African region as a whole, the 1-2-3 positioning once again shows its continued dominance in this event. The two bronze medals were well earned in the boxing by Kassim Mbundwike (Light Middleweight) and Yusuf Lucasi Changalawe (Light Heavyweight).

Serengeti Girls under-17 women’s team qualify for World Cup

Tanzania was also represented in judo, para-lifting and swimming. Tanzanian athletes now look forward to the 23rd Games in Victoria, Australia, in 2026 where they will hope to build on their success. The country was less successful at the 2022 Athletics World Championships held in Oregon, US. The small delegation of 2 took part in the men’s marathon where Gabriel Geay finished 7th.

Football
Tanzania have confirmed their joint bid with Uganda to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations men’s football tournament (africafootball. com 24/6/2022) and plan to offer four stadium venues should they be successful.
Positive news on the pitch in the women’s game, where the under-17 women’s national team Serengeti Girls (picture above) have secured a place at the 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup scheduled for October 11 to 30 in India. They have drawn Japan, Canada and France in Group D (The Citizen). We wish them well in their preparations and will report back on their endeavours in a future edition of TA.