Online Reporter
Sports Reporter
MAKANAKAISHE Charamba’s superb time of 19.88s, which he ran in winning the 200m at the Toyota USA Track and Field Lone Star Grand Prix on Saturday, would have been enough for fourth place at the last Olympics.
Of course, conditions change and this is very important when it comes to athletics.
But, the fact that such a time would have been just outside the medals at the last Olympics, shows just how fast Charamba ran at the Grand Prix.
Letshile Tebogo won Olympics gold in 19,4s, Kenneth Bednarek took silver in 19,62s while Noah Lyles took silver in 19,70s.
Charamba’s time is the second-fastest by a Zimbabwean athlete.
It is the second fastest by a Zimbabwean athlete and is only behind Makarawu’s national record of 19.84s.
It is the best time by a Zimbabwean this season and comfortably inside the 20.07-second qualifying standard for the 2027 World Championships in Beijing, China.
Tete Taylor of the United States finished second, with a personal best of 19.97s, while Canada’s Aaron Brown was third in 20.11 seconds, on Saturday.
Charamba remains a medal hopeful at major events and a strong contender for Zimbabwe’s 4x100m relay team.
Denzel Simusialela is the other Zimbabwean with the 200m qualifying mark for next year’s World Championships, having run 19.98 seconds. Charamba’s time ranks sixth in the world this season. Simusialela is 14th — a remarkable feat for Africa’s rising sprint nation.
Taking advantage of the hot and humid conditions and a friendly tailwind, 2024 Olympic champion Gabby Thomas dazzled the crowd Saturday at the USATF Lone Star Grand Prix at Texas A&M’s E.B. Cushing Stadium, clocking a world-leading 21.70s.
The meet was the ninth stop on the 2026 USATF Tour and was a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event.
Thomas, who took gold in the 200 and on the US 4×100 and 4×400 relays at Paris, ran the eighth fastest time ever by an American woman and won by .37 over Kayla White, who snagged the runner-up spot with a season best of 22.07s. Nigeria’s Favour Ofili also closed quickly to take third.
