Online Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S star sprinter Makanakaishe Charamba has been drawn in lane six of semi-final two for the upcoming World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
While the marquee championship began yesterday, all eyes will be on tomorrow’s high-stakes semi-finals where Charamba aims to navigate a fiercely competitive lineup and secure a lane in the grand finale later that evening. He faces a stacked field featuring Canadian icon Andre De Grasse, Jamaica’s Bryan Levell, and South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile— the rival who edged him out for second place at the recent Diamond League Final.
Meanwhile, Another Zimbabwean athlete Ashley Miller Kamangirira prepares for her own crucial test today in the 400m hurdles semi-finals, with the goal of joining tomorrow’s ultimate track finale.
But all eyes will be on tomorrow’s men’s 200m event where Zimbabwe’s Charamba will be taking on some of the world’s best including world leader Kenneth Bednarek who arrives fresh from winning his third Diamond League title, clocking 19.62 in both Zurich and Brussels.
Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo returns to the Budapest track where he won two world medals in 2023. Fourteen of the 16 men in the Ultimate field have broken 20 seconds during their careers.
American Bednarek could hardly arrive at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in better form.
The two-time Olympic silver medallist equalled his world-leading 19.62 in Brussels last weekend to claim his third Diamond League title, having first clocked that time in Zurich nine days earlier.
But standing between Bednarek and the Ultimate crown is the man who beat him to Olympic gold in Paris.
Tebogo produced an African record of 19.46 for that victory and has run 19.84 this season, winning the Diamond League meeting in Oslo. Dambile has been faster in 2026. The South African stormed to a lifetime best of 19.74 in Doha in June and followed it by winning Commonwealth gold in Glasgow in 19.96. He was also second to Bednarek at the Diamond League Final.
Levell brings major championship pedigree of his own.
The Jamaican claimed world bronze in Tokyo last year with a PB of 19.64, finishing immediately behind Bednarek and ahead of Tebogo.
Alexander Ogando and Dambile also reached that world final.
The depth extends much further. Zimbabwean Charamba has run 19.88 this year, while José Figueroa lowered the Puerto Rican record to 19.76. Former Olympic champion De Grasse has returned to sub-19.85 form, winning in Gaborone in April in 19.84.
Reigning world champion Noah Lyles had been due to add another dimension to the contest but has ended his season after the hamstring injury he sustained at the US Championships.
He will nevertheless be in Budapest as an Ultimate Star, serving as Ultimate MC and Creative Adviser for the championship.
His withdrawal does little to diminish the depth of the race. Fourteen of the 16 entrants own sub-20-second bests and, with only the top four from each semifinal advancing, even reaching the final will require near-perfect execution.
Bednarek has the fastest time and freshest form, Tebogo has the Olympic title, and Dambile and Levell have repeatedly proved they can challenge the very best.
The final men’s individual sprint title of the Ultimate looks anything but straightforward. — Agencies.
