admin
Ellina Mhlanga
Senior Sports Reporter
MISSING most major competitions during his time as a junior almost resulted in Tafadzwa Chikomba giving up his dream of pursuing his passion in athletics.
Chikomba, a long jumper, was part of Team Zimbabwe at this year’s edition of the Confederation of African Athletics Senior Championships in Doula, Cameroon.
This year’s edition attracted the likes of World Championships 100m silver medallist Letsile Tebogo and world triple jump champion Hugues Fabrice Zango.
Chikomba was one of the several Zimbabwean athletes that were competing at the championships for the first time and he finished sixth in the men’s long jump final.
However, growing up in Chiredzi, his journey as an upcoming athlete was not an easy one due to financial constraints and limited access to platforms where his talent could be further developed.
“Sometimes I qualified for competitions, but because of financial reasons, I will just let it go. But the big deal was to try and go to America where I could get the resources I need. So I qualified for a lot of meets, but I couldn’t go. Maybe it was just that I was staying away from Harare or Bulawayo. Maybe that was a big deal also. I was staying in Chiredzi, Malipati.
“I can say it was really tough for me. I almost gave up because I qualified for a lot of competitions. But since I was staying far from places like Harare, no one could reach out to me, so it almost made me give up.
“It was hard to an extent that I told my mom that I was going to give up track and field and try something else.”
However, his dream of moving to the United States was fulfilled last year when he joined Meridian Community College after he was scouted during a competition in Zambia.
He attributes his success to his high school coach Peter Mapengo, who identified his talent at Malipati High School.
Prior to his participation in Douala, Chikomba felt intimidated just by the thought of competing at a major competition.
Going to the championships was a last minute decision for the United States-based athlete.
After jumping 8.11m a couple of weeks before the Africa Senior Championships, Chikomba believed he had a chance to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, leading to his participation in Cameroon.
However, he failed to reach the qualifying mark of 8.27m.
“I didn’t plan to come here, but two weeks before this meet I jumped 8.11. So I thought this was going to be my opportunity to qualify. That was my motivation which led me to try by all means to hit the qualification mark after the NJCAA Champs.”
With the exposure and experience gained at the continental meet, Chikomba is looking at qualification for the World Athletics Championships to be held next year in Tokyo.
“This is the first time coming to a big meet like this. I was a little bit nervous but that was a good experience, now I have the courage to jump at big meets like this.
“This meet was a big deal to me. I was afraid to go to big meets. But after this I am really positive to go to big meets, like World Championships and all those other big meets.”
With an enabling environment now to pursue his dream, one of his goals is to assist other upcoming athletes.
“I can say we have a lot of athletes down there (in Chiredzi), but they don’t have access. And that’s my other goal when I make it, try to assist them because I had a lot of friends who used to be good just like me, but they didn’t get the same opportunity as the one I got,” said Chikomba.
Online Reporter