Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube
PHAKAMILE Lisimati, the senior national team coach, says Zimbabwean athletes’ strong start to the outdoor season in the United States of America is an encouraging sign ahead of next month’s African Senior Championships in Ghana.
Several Zimbabwean athletes have posted impressive performances across the continent and in the US over the past two weeks, reinforcing the view that the country — which has had runners qualifying for 200m finals at recent Olympic Games and World Championships — can no longer be regarded as a minnow in world athletics.
“It is pleasing to the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) to see that our athletes abroad have had a good start too to the 2026 season by posting very good times at the beginning. It is the kind of news one needs with the Ghana Senior African Track and Field Championships on sight,” said Lisimati from Gwanda yesterday.
Top sprinter and contender for the Zimbabwe Sportsperson of the Year award alongside cricketer Sikandar Raza, Tapiwanashe Makarawu, caught global attention at the weekend when he finished second to Jamaican star Kishane Thompson in the 150m dash in Florida.
With Thompson clocking 14.92 seconds, Makarawu impressed by setting a new Zimbabwe national record of 14.96 seconds over the distance.
The 150m mark is Makarawu’s second national record after his 19.84 seconds in the 200m last year.
“He was up against world class competition, congratulations to him for the great run,” said Lisimati.
The veteran coach also praised another outstanding Zimbabwean performance by hurdler Ashley Miller, who finished third in a 100m hurdles race in the US against Olympic champion and former NCAA winner Masal Russel, who won in 12.72 seconds. Miller finished just 0.05 seconds behind teammate Rayniah Jones in 13.15 seconds.
The time was both Miller’s personal best and a new Zimbabwe record.
“It was good to see Ashley Miller put up such a great performance. This is good news and we are happy that our girls too are coming to the party,” said Lisimati.
Miller’s 13.15 seconds is comfortably within the 14.24 second qualification standard for the African Senior Championships.
Another female athlete, Vimbai Maisvoreva, has recorded a season’s best of 51.71 seconds, well inside the 54 second qualifying mark for Ghana.
The Zimbabwe men’s 4x400m relay team has posted a season’s best of three minutes 0.69 seconds, which currently stands as the 13th fastest time in the world during the qualification window stretching back to last year.
Qualification remains tight in the men’s 100m, with Tapiwanashe Makarawu (10.21 seconds), Denzel Simusialela (10.25), Makanakaishe Charamba (10.25), Carlton Siwela (10.32) and Tafadzwa Chikomba (10.33) all close to the 10.2 second standard.
Several athletes are also operating comfortably under the 21 second threshold in the men’s 200m, including Methembe Tshuma (20.40), Simusialela (20.47) and Dennis Hove (20.69), while Charamba and Makarawu qualified last year. Zimbabwe is therefore on course to send one of its largest teams to the continental championships.
The 400m has strong depth, with Thandazani Ndlovu (45.30 seconds), Carlton Siwela (45.53), Leeford Zuze (45.62) and Hove (45.63) all safely under the 46.5 second qualifying standard, with more athletes expected to qualify in the coming weeks.
In the field events, Tafadzwa Chikomba leads Africa’s long jump rankings this year with an 8,15m effort, while Chengetai Mapaya ranks second in the triple jump with 16,85m, behind Algeria’s Yasser Triki, who tops the list with 17,35m.
Another Zimbabwean, Theophilus Mudzengerere, sits fourth among African triple jumpers with 16,71m and is a likely finalist in Ghana should he make the trip.
Lisimati said the volume of strong performances so early in the season was highly encouraging and reflected a positive trajectory for the sport, adding that, resources permitting, Zimbabwe could send one of its biggest teams to the championships.
“This is very pleasing in that we have a good number of athletes, who have already qualified. We have the largest number of athletes, who have qualified for the African Senior Championships. We may send the largest team in a long while,” said Lisimati.
With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics already in focus, he said the country was laying a solid foundation.
“The ultimate goal for now is the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. What is good about it, is that going forward, we have a very big pool of athletes with the quality to qualify. We have the challenge to push ourselves further and do better all the time and be in a position to see a very good number of our athletes making the grade for Los Angeles. As Naaz, we are not sitting on our laurels, we are pushing very hard at all levels,” said Lisimati.
He credited Naaz’s development structures, noting that almost every district now has qualified coaches and event judges, which has improved standards at school competitions where talent identification is taking place.
A snapshot of current rankings shows several Zimbabwean athletes positioned within Africa’s top 15 in various events, suggesting that as many as six could progress beyond the semi-final stages at the continental championships if they maintain their form.
