Giniki - Runner Who Has Sights Set on Glory

Emmanuel Giniki Gisamoda in China Recently

Emmanuel Giniki stands tall among the excelling local runners who have weathered the storm to stay at the helm of Tanzania's athletic platform. Born in 1988 in a poor family based in Hanang, Katesh, Manyara, Giniki's running talent can be traced back since his childhood at the Jorodom Primary School.

"I am coming from a poor family where we sometimes went without food. That was our daily life. This is what encouraged me to train hard and I am determined to use athletics to bring my family out of poverty," he said during an exclusive interview with The Citizen.

After completing primary school education in 2007, Gikini joined Ganana Secondary School in Hanang where his running talent was revealed. "I used to compete and win many championships to the extent that teachers and most of my friends suggested that I better drop lessons to concentrate on athletics," he said.

A few years later, he joined the Arusha-based Shahanga Sports Club where his talent was exposed to high profile trainers and other runners. "There I began to learn the game more professionally under the tutelage of widely experienced trainers," he noted. 

Giving a brief over his experience, the 21-year-old marathoner who has so far scooped several medals and honours at different local tournaments, said the country was blessed with many talents, but there was no progressive plan to recruit and groom them.

"Athletics Tanzania (AT) must now prepare a good programme that will deal with identifying and recruiting young talented runners from the grassroots. Tanzania has been endowed with many good runners but the athletics body is not serious enough," he revealed.

Giniki who is inspired by England runner, Mo Farah, remains optimistic that Tanzania will one day outsmart leading countries like Ethiopia if the government started supporting the runners seriously.

"Athletes face several setbacks, ranging from poor training gear, lack of high skilled trainers as well as financial capacity to feature in different international tournaments," he noted.

OLYMPIC GAMES PREPS

Giniki is, however, worried over the Tanzanian runners' performance in the forthcoming 31st edition of the world's top crowd-puller event, the Olympic Games, due to poor preparations and financial constraints.

He said for Tanzania to compete highly in the games, there was a need for long-term preparations.

He disclosed that most of the countries that excel in the Games have a good tendency of preparing their runners a year before.

"I don't have any doubts with the runners who will represent the county in the Rio De Jenairo event, but my worries are due to the poor preparations. There is no training gear so far, apart from the fact that they need several international trials before the event", he asserted.