Charamba’s big break

Ray Bande

Senior Reporter

BATTLE-HARDENED former Hillcrest College athlete, Makanakaishe Charamba, will start partaking in seniors’ competitions this year as he turns 20.

Charamba made a name for himself in short distance competitions after winning several accolades as a junior athlete.

He was the Confederation of School Sport of Southern Africa (COSSASA)100m champion in 2018, Manicaland provincial 100m and 200m champion from 2018 to 2020 and the national 200m champion in 2018.

“I was supposed to attend the Africa Youth Championships in 2018 in Algiers, Algeria; and the Youth Olympics in Bunero Aires, but I could not due to my exams.

“In 2019, I missed the African Junior Championships as I did not get the invitation letter in time, while my parents did not get the necessary funding,” he said.

This time around, the talented young athlete is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to make it to the Tokyo Olympics.

Together with his colleague, Dickson Kamungeremu, they have launched a campaign to raise funds to attend the high performance training programme in South Africa.

“Makanakaishe Charamba and Dickson Kamungeremu are athletes from Zimbabwe with a primary goal of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in July and Africa Senior Championships in Algeria in June, partaking in the 100m and 200m events. As part of preparations for the competition, we need to attend a high performance training programme in Pretoria, South Africa, the nearest place with the most appropriate facilities for high quality training.

“Such training includes vital competitions that will take place this month. In this regard, we are appealing for assistance. We strongly believe that we have what it takes to bring medals to the country,” reads part of the duo’s appeal letter.

Some of the members of the country’s 4x100m relay team who are training in high performance centres include Ngoni Makusha (South Africa), Tinotenda Matiyenga (United States of America) and Tatenda Tsumba (United Kingdom).

“This year, I will be competing in the seniors category for the first time since I am turning 20 in December. I am looking forward to the challenge and I am confident that I will stand the heat,” said Charamba.