Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE wind howled through Hayward Field as 23-year-old Chengetayi Mapaya stepped onto the runway.
Draped in all black and cloaked in quiet swagger behind his trademark shades, the Zimbabwean triple jump champion looked every bit the man ready to soar.
It was supposed to be his moment.
He had clawed his way back from a brutal hamstring injury, sustained at this very venue, and returned just months earlier to capture his second National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title.
Confidence was high. Familiar territory. Perfect conditions.
But then came the heartbreak.
A foul on his first attempt. Two identical 15.75m leaps on his second and fourth attempts. And just like that, Mapaya was out. No final. No medal. No fairy tale ending. Not even close.
Italy’s Andy Diaz Hernandez needed only one jump, 17.80m, to win gold and break his national record. China’s Zhu Yaming (17.33m) and Brazil’s Almir Dos Santos (17.22m) rounded off the podium.
For Mapaya, the dreams stayed buried in the sandpit.
Fast forward two years and the journey for the now 25-year-old has become less about the runway and more about resilience.
“I’m doing well, just that I’m in grind mode at the moment,” he says, speaking from the United States.
That grind? A full-time 8-to-6.30 job and training under the dimming twilight.
“My daily routine has been full of early mornings and late nights, just trying to balance work and a career on the field,” he explains.
Life after college has not been scripted for the soft-hearted.
Mapaya graduated from Texas Christian University (TCU) with dreams of a seamless transition into professional athletics, bolstered by a budding partnership with Adidas.
But then, injury struck again.
“Soon after graduation, this looked positive as I was just starting to work with Adidas,” he recalls. “Unfortunately, I got injured in 2022, after TCU and the World Championships, and had to start from scratch all over again. I missed the 2023 season and came back a year later.”
His comeback trail began at the 2024 African Championships, where he clinched a bronze medal, a small but significant victory after a year lost to recovery.
“Missing out on the Olympics was tough,” he admits, “but I intend to use it as motivation for the World Championships.”
For all his setbacks, Mapaya has never lost one thing — belief.
His confidence remains unshaken, a trait that has defined his career since his early collegiate days in Fort Worth.
As the athletics world gears up for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo (set for September 13-21), he has his eyes firmly set on a return.
The qualification bar is high: 17.40m is the required standard in triple jump. That is Mapaya’s best, and perhaps only, shot.
He has not had enough meets to qualify through rankings.
But belief? That he has got in spades.
“My preparations have been amazing; I’m injury-free for now and feeling good,” he says. “I have a couple of meets coming up between now and the deadline (August 24), so the plan is to jump the required standard and book my ticket.”
He is not flying solo either.
On a national scale, Zimbabwe’s representation in Tokyo is beginning to take shape.
Sprinters Tapiwanashe Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba, long-distance stars Tendai Zimuto and Isaac Mpofu, and US-based Vimbayi Maisvoreva have all qualified.
Watching his countrymen and women shine has become both a point of pride and fuel for the fire.
“Those are my little brothers, right there, and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Mapaya beams. “Makarawu and Charamba are doing amazing things right now, and it’s definitely an exciting time for Zimbabwe athletics.
“We have so much depth and talent, which is untapped over here in the US, and these two are doing an amazing job to not just shine a light on us all, but give us something to aspire to.”
But admiration has not dulled his ambition. In fact, it has sharpened it.
“I was in their position once and I take their achievements as inspiration and a challenge to do more,” he says.
“They’ve made the finals of the pinnacle of athletics, which is the Olympics, and I haven’t done that yet.
“I’ve actually reached out to them to find out what it feels like and to pick their brains on competing at such a high level.”
For now, the mission is simple: qualify.
“The goal is to make the World Championships, make the finals and bring back some hardware for my country,” Mapaya says.
“This time around I do not want to get ahead of myself and aim too high. Any medal will do, honestly.”
From Eugene to Tokyo, with grit in every step, Mapaya’s story is still being written. He is not the same athlete who faltered at Hayward Field in 2022. He is older now, wiser and perhaps even hungrier.
And with each jump towards 17.40m, he edges closer to redemption, not just for himself, but for every Zimbabwean athlete with Olympic-sized dreams.
DU Airlines is preparing for takeoff again. And this time, Mapaya plans to stay airborne.
Online Reporter