The Week Junior UK - Issue 189, 27 July 2019

People

27 July 2019•The Week Junior

An Olympic hopeful

L

ina Nielsen hasayearleft to preparefor theTokyo
2020 Olympic Games. She found her passion for
athletics when she volunteered at the 2012 Olympics
in London, whereshecarried the kitbag of thefamous
British athlete JessicaEnnis-Hill. Nielsen toldThe
Guardiannewspaper itwasamoment whereshe and
her twin sister,Laviai, thought, “If she’sdone this,
whycan’t we?” They started taking PE seriously and
in 2015 they won gold medals running as part of the
GB4x400-metrerelay team at the European Junior
Championships. Nielsen is now focusing all her efforts
on hurdles (runningfast and jumping small fences).
She said, “Tostand on top ofapodium isaspecial
MATTHEW POWER PHOthing, because it’ssorare.Isowant to do it inTokyo.”

TOGRAPHY

·CGT

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FRICA

·REX SHUTTERSTOCK

waterfor litter-pickin

W

hen teenagekayakerWill Darling fou

different pieces of rubbish floating in

one-mile stretch of the Norfolk Broads, in th

of England, hewasinspired to start cleanin

Darling, fromWroxham, Norfolk, has since

morethan 100 miles bykayaktocollect rub

he has found floating in rivers. This has incl

portable toilet and sweet wrappers dating

2005. He said, “The mostcommon things w
      cans, plastic bottles, sweet wrappers and c
      bar wrappers.”Hehas alreadyearned an a
      his efforts, and is nowraising money foratr
      Africa, wherehewill work oncommunity pr

9

LinaNielse n(right)

withsister Laviai.

A

lvinZhakata,afootball-crazy nurse from

Zimbabwe, has becomefamous across

Africaafter embarking on an epic 44-dayroad

trip to see hiscountry play in the AfricaCup of

Nations (AFCON). AFCON isafootball

tournament held every two years, and this

year’scompetition took placeinEgypt.

Zhakata started his journey on 27 May,

with his friend Botha Msila from CapeTown

in South Africa. The journey spanned 6,

miles and took him through eightcountries.

The goalwastomakeittoCairointime for the

opening match of the tournament on 21 June,

between host nation Egypt and Zimbabwe.

Their planwastocatch buses and

ask drivers for lifts.

It wasn’teasy.

Theirroute took

them through

Sudan during

protests against

thecountry’s

military rulers, and

Zhakatawasheld by policeafter accidentally

walking into the middle ofamarch. Zhakata

wasalso forcedtofinish the journey alone,

after his friend Msilawasunable to getavisa

to cross the border betweenKenyaand

Ethiopia. (A visa is an official document that

allows someone to enter or leaveacountry).

Despite his efforts, Zhakata missed

Zimbabwe’smatch because his journey took

longer thanexpected–although he did get

to watch the final. The president of the

Confederation of AfricanFootball gave Zhakata

afreeticket to the game after his journey

becameamajor news story in Africa. In the

match, played on 19 July in Cairo, Algeria beat

Senegal 1-0. Inafinal twist, Zhakata

st his passport while hewasin

Egypt–but luckily itwaslater

found by Senegalfans. Zhakata

said of his journey,“If you have

apassion for something, go for

t. The harder the battle, the

terthe victory.”

TheZimbabweanfootballfanhasbeenonanincrediblejourney.

AlvinZhakata’s

Africanadventure

Senega

sw

WOW!

Thefirs

tAFCON in 1957

had jus

tthree

teams and

twomatches.

Thisyea

rthere

were^24

teams and

52 matches.

h

r

Will Darling

Alvin Zhakata with his

precious passport.

“My mum and dad sacrificed

so muchformewhen Iwas

younger.I’m so happyIcan

hand them this trophy.”

Irish golfer ShaneLowry dedicated his victory at the

Open to his parents. The Open is the world’s oldest golf

tournament andwasheld in Northern Ireland thisyear.