In a very sad and shocking development, a Zimbabwean athlete is reported to have competed at the 8th edition of the Region V Youth Under 20 Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana while barefooted.

However, the young lad, whose identity we are yet to confirm, did not let this deter him as he managed to win a bronze medal.

At the time of publishing, it was not immediately clear whether the athlete competed barefooted because he had no alternative or whether it was his personal choice to do so.

ZimEye.com efforts to get a comment from the Zimbabwean delegation at the games were not successful at the time of writing.