The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN rower, Peter Purcell-Gilpin has booked his place in the Men’s Single Sculls D final at the Tokyo Olympic after he finished fourth in the C/D semifinals held at the Sea Forrest Waterway on Thursday.
Purcell-Gilpin settled for fourth place in the C/D semifinals in a time of seven minutes, 10.65 seconds. The 27-year old Purcell-Gilpin is no longer in contention for any medal, with the rower now competing for a final placing.Friday’s race is the final appearance for the Zimbabwean at the Tokyo Olympics.
Zimbabwean athletes still in the running for medals at the Tokyo Olympics are golfer Scott Vincent who teed off at Kasumigaseki Country Club on Thursday while 100m sprint athlete starts competing on Saturday.
Swimmers, Donata Katai and Peter Wetzlar’s interest at the biggest sporting event in the world is over after they failed to progress to the next stage despite posting personal best times in their maiden appearances at the Olympic Games.
Donata won her 100m backstroke heat with a new personal best time of 1:02:73 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Sunday but her she fell outside the cutoff time to qualify for the semifinals.
Wetzlar finished fifth in his 100m freestyle heat in a time of 50.31 seconds. Regardless of the fact that this was the 24-year old swimmer’s personal best time and a national record, it was not good enough for Wetzlar to make it to the next round. Wetzlar finished 42 out of 70 swimmers in the 100m freestyle and Tuesday’s race was his only appearance at the Tokyo Olympics.
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