Malawian Olympic team race UK soldiers
Members of the Malawian Olympic team on Thursday raced against British Army Soldiers to complete the standard fitness test for the military personnel.
According to reports on BBC and ITV, the Malawi Olympic athletes included marathon runner Mike Tebulo, marathon pace-setter John Kayange and 400m sprinter Ambwene Simkonda joined in the annual Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) fitness test at Imjin Barracks, Gloucestershire.
The training attracted about 150 military personnel .
The Malawi team are training at the University of Gloucestershire’s Oxstalls Campus in the build up to the London 2012 games.
They raced – 2 minutes of press-ups followed by 2 minutes of sit-ups followed by a 1.5 mile run.
‘Just jogging’
Tebulo, who completed the run in just over seven minutes, told BBC: “It was good. It was not race, I was just jogging. Even the shoes I was using were very heavy.
“I’m enjoying it here in Gloucestershire. The weather today is changing. People tell me this is the summer, but a few days ago it was like winter.”
Major Tim James of the British Army said: “It’s great for our soldiers to get visibility of an elite athlete – somebody that in couple of week’s time they’ll be able to watch on the television.”
Following failure by sports disciplines in Malawi to meet Olympic qualifying time, only four athletes will represent the country at the 2012 London Olympics on a solidarity ticket.
