Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
FOR the Zimbabwe National Karate Federation, the 2026 African Championships was more than a competition.
The national federation fielded a small and young team, composed mainly of juniors and a cadet, at the competition held recently in Algiers, Algeria.
This was in partnership with the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee who catered for the team’s air tickets.
The idea is to invest in young talent and expose the athletes to high-level competition.
For national coach Winston Nyanhete who was in charge of the team, such exposure means focus should now be on ensuring there is consistency in terms of competing at such stages as the continental showpiece.
“What we want is something like this, they competed in 2026, they got to learn what kind of intensity they need to be able to get a medal in an event like this. What kind of pressure and training they need to apply in such events,” he said.
“After that, we need to compete in all the next events that are coming because next year, Angola gets to host this in July.”
Zimbabwe had four representatives, with Clarice Runodada competing in the female cadets (14 to 15 years) under 52kg.
The pair of Raylen Mohamed and Bradley Kadzombe were in the junior boys (16 to 17 years) category, with the former competing in the under 61kg weight division and the latter in the over 76kg.
Nicole Kadzombe battled it out in the women’s under 21 (under 68kg).
Together with Mohamed, they both placed seventh in their respective events, and that was the best performance from the team.
The pair of Bradley Kadzombe and Runodada bowed out in the early rounds and were not ranked.
While they missed out on medals, Nyanhete feels local athletes are not far off their counterparts on the continent.
“I went to Nigeria last year by myself. I did not have a team. I got to study the other teams,” says Nyanhete.
“Kenya came out of it with zero medals, nothing. But coming into this year, this is 2026, Kenya had about four or five finals that they went into.
“They did not get a gold, but they got the silver medals. I will just use an example of Kenya, Ethiopia.
“We need to go more and more to these events and compete so that they learn how to be more grounded at this kind of event.”
The under 21 category was introduced this year and is meant to provide a critical intermediate arena that is psychologically and physically calibrated for developmental purposes for athletes graduating from the juniors.
With major events such as the African Games set for next year, Nyanhete feels that for athletes like Kadzombe, the continental championships provided the much-needed experience to build on going forward.
“Athletes like Nicole, these are our under 21s. With this kind of experience, they will start competing at African Games next year which is in Egypt,” he said.
“This is coming a month after the Africa Championship which is being hosted by Angola. With this kind of tournament, everyone got to learn because you are coming into a setup where they needed to acclimatise.”
The need to adjust to certain conditions, he says, would help ensure they rub shoulders with some of the world champions.
“So, sharing the floor with these guys and getting to learn from them first-hand is a very important step for our junior karate team.
“All the coaches, everyone is linked together,” said Nyanhete.
“We got to spend a lot of time with Team Senegal. It’s a very strong team, so our athletes got to learn from all the other countries.”
For 16-year-old Mohamed, who competed in the under 61kg, the championships were an eye-opener.
“This was at a continental level. It was great for me,” he said. “It was a whole different level. Something that I didn’t see coming.
“But now I know, I got the feeling and I am ready for what’s next. I got to see a lot of world-class athletes. I managed to learn a lot of things.”
