Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president Tendai Tagara, believes Makanakaishe Charamba who debuted in the Diamonds League with a bronze medal in Monaco, France on Friday, could have even done better if he was on Lane Five.
Charamba finished third in 19,99 seconds.
With his stunning debut race, and glorious finish against the best in Noah Lyles and Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo, Charamba showed he is up there among the best in the world. His university track and field triumphs, were not a fluke but a testimony of his quality.
In congratulating Charamba for his sterling debut race Tagara said with a better lane, Charamba could have shocked the duo.
“He ran a well-executed run, if he had run on Lane Five he could have gone all the way to the wire, it was a well-run race, he is among the big guys, if he is able to run 19 seconds the 200m, it is means he is among the big guys it gives him confidence ahead of Tokyo,” said Tagara.
Charamba and his compatriot and national record holder Tapiwanashe Makarawu, have already qualified for the Tokyo World Championships in Japan this September.
On Friday Lyles clocked 19,88 seconds to win his first Diamond League race of the season.
It was all the sweeter for him as he beat Paris Olympic champion Tebogo of Botswana.
Lyles leads a very good field of US sprinters for a nation that is a perennial threat in sprints and relays in major world athletics events.
With Friday’s win Lyles stayed unbeaten in the Diamond League since 2019.
It may have just been the right tonic for him ahead of what promises to be an explosive US Track and Field Championships in the coming weeks.
“Any time that you can run against fast people and get the win, I call that a job well done,” Lyles told Olympics.com.
“Any time you get to be out there and put on a performance, I think those are the ones that count the most.”
The entertaining clash between two of the world’s best sprinters lived up to its pre-race billing, with the reigning Olympic 100m champion (Lyles) and 200m champion (Tebogo) going stride-for-stride for much of the race according to Olympic.com.
Tebogo was home in a time of 19,97 seconds.
Charamba had a sluggish start but once he got his rhythm, he proved that he cannot be taken lightly in future events, he is not a pushover but a real threat to the so called “big guns.”
The World Athletics Championships will run from 13-21 September in Tokyo, Japan.
