Marvellous Mozambique!
This Sunday is Heroes day in Mozambique and we'd like to share our GWR heroes from this vibrant West African state:
Fastest run 1,000 metres (female) (indoors)
2 hours 30.94 seconds by Maria Mutola (Mozambique) in Stockholm, Sweden on 25 February 1999.
First lady of most countries
Graca Machel was married to Samora Machel (1933-86), President of Mozambique from 1975 to 1986. President Machel was killed in a plane crash on October 19, 1986. On July 18, 1998 she married Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, making her the first woman to be `First Lady' of two different countries.
Smallest mammal used in detecting land mines
The smallest mammal regularly used in the detection of land mines is the Gambian (or African) giant pouch rat (Cricetomys gambianus), which measures 76 cm (30 in) long (including the tail) and weighs 1.35 kg (3 lb), i.e light enough not to trigger an explosion. In November 2003, a team of nine rats successfully identified twenty mines along the Limpopo Railway in Mozambique and now a United Nations certified team of eight operate there daily. According to APOPO, the Belgian company which developed the idea, a single rat and its handler can search 150 m² (1,614 ft²) in one day. The rats are harnessed onto a lead and are trained to respond to the smell emitted by the explosive by stopping and scratching / biting at the location until they are rewarded with food. Approximately 100 are currently being trained at Sokoine University, Tanzania and the team hopes to use them on missions in Angola, Sudan and Ethiopia.
World Championships, Athletics, Indoors - Most golds
First held as the World Indoor Games in 1985, they are now staged biennially. The most individual titles is five by Iván Pedroso (Cuba) in long jump 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001. The most individual golds by a woman is five by Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) high jump 1985, 1987, 1989, 1993 and 1997 and Maria Mutola (Mozambique) in the 800-m races of 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003.
Longest rift system
The East African Rift System is approximately 6,400km (4,000miles) long with an average width of 50-65km (30-40miles). The escarpments around the edge of the valley have an average height of 600-900m (2,000-3,000ft). It begins in Jordan and extends to Mozambique in east Africa. This extensive rift system has been gradually forming for around 30 million years, as the Arabian peninsula has separated from Africa.
31 January 2008