Precious Mashele pleads with ASA to assist him with pace setters to boost his Olympic qualification goals

Mashele, who previously competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, believes that pace makers from Kenya and Ethiopia could be instrumental in helping him achieve the qualifying time of 13:05:00 before the deadline on 30 June.

READ: Elroy Gelant eyes his fourth podium finish in the Absa Run Your City 10km in Cape Town

Eager to participate in his second Olympic Games, Mashele highlighted the vital role which ASA could play for him to guarantee his Olympic spot.

Mashele claims that there is no competition locally resulting in slower times for him and the other runners over the 5000m and 10 000m events. 

''If I can I get strong competition, I could still qualify easily. I think as South Africans we want to win but we don't want to run faster,'' said Mashele.

Mashele believes that his current difficulty in qualifying for the Games stems from the lack of a pace setter. If this issue is resolved, he feels confident that he could secure his spot in Paris.

''According to me, if they want us to qualify, they must hire East Africans and help us race the pace - we then can qualify easily,'' added Mashele.

Mashele is set to travel to Germany for a Race later this month, aiming to qualify for the Games.

He is currently awaiting final confirmation from his legendary coach, Hendrick Ramaala, who is coordinating the travel arrangements with his team, Mashele is hopeful that everything will fall into place for his trip overseas.

As Mashele awaits his confirmation for European competitions, he will compete in the Absa Run Your City 10km race this Sunday, aiming for a top-three finish.