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Sports Reporter
YOUNG hotshot Zimbabwean sprinter Kundai Maguranyanga has decided to turn professional, following in the footsteps of the country’s sprinting giants such as Ngonidzashe Makusha, Lewis Banda and Gabriel Mvumvure.
Maguranyanga (24) is a graduate of the leading American university, Texas Christian University (TCU). He recently graduated with an Economics Major and a minor in Data Analytics.
In fact, Maguranyanga first won an athletics scholarship at Drake University where he was doing Computer Studies and when he moved to TCU, he changed and graduated with an Economics Major and a minor in Data Analytics.
Maguranyanga is ecstatic at turning professional and he gets animated speaking about his journey so far and what he calls “exciting future possibilities”.
“The first smart thing my family has done is get me the very best advisor I could ever get. My father, Joseph, asked his bigger brother, Gerald Maguranyanga (an IAAF certified athletics coach), to boost my camp with his unique set of management skills. Gerald is no-doubt a well-known sporting figure who has been the critical figure behind many athletes that include former Springbok Tonderai Chavhanga and ex-Zimbabwe rugby captain Kennedy Tsimba whom he engineered fruitful moves to the UK and South Africa, amongst many other athletes in other sporting codes including football,” says Kundai.
“Uncle Gerald immediately assumes the role of manager in all my affairs, including scouting for the sponsorships and partnerships I need, particularly in my early days, before I can earn money and invitations on the global professional circuit. My uncle (Gerald) is a well-known “slave driver” for want of a better term, but I am willing to play ball so that he helps me configure my life professionally. Hard work therefore, is what I am bringing to the table.
“I’ve always been interested in running fast. Watching superstars like Jamaican Usain Bolt change athletics history was inspiring. The drive and passion of such superstars is unbelievable. I too feel like I have so much to offer in the sport, starting with running and winning for Zimbabwe, something I dream about daily.
“I want to run and win things for Zimbabwe, and drape the Zimbabwean flag on my shoulders before an international audience. I would like to ape what (now the Zimbabwean sporting Minister) Kirsty Coventry did, who performed at the Olympics, won medals, and proudly presented them to the Zimbabwean President on behalf of all Zimbabweans. Every athlete dreams of that. Not every athlete achieves that, but I want to do all that.”
Kundai has a story to tell . . . “I am a firm believer of everything happens for a reason.”
He was reluctantly driven from the city by his father Joseph and sent to academic powerhouse Pamushana High School, a boarding institution, specifically to make him focus on his brilliant academics.
He narrates: “I had been a city boy all my young life, so I did not know at all what to expect in boarding school far from home. I knew there was football and netball there. Nothing was track related. Surely the intention to make me focus on my studies had to work, or so my dad thought. Football was the only sport available (and a little bit of athletics) but I didn’t want to compete in football as I felt I would not be good enough.
“One day, at the school’s inter-house athletics competition, we didn’t have anyone running the 200m event for my house. I volunteered to run the 200m but I had older, more-experienced competitors alongside me. I was only 15 and the older guys ranged from 17 to 19 years of age. Needless to say, they showed me flames but I immediately vowed they would never ever beat me in a race again — and they never did.
“I believe of all events, this thorough beating — in which I came last — 8 of 8 — bruised my ego, and taught me lessons for a lifetime. But that shellacking handed me by my seniors is where my self-motivation comes from, to this day.” Kundai shares that since that early defeat, he absolutely started focusing on and dedicating much more time to the track. Often training by himself.
“Every break I got, I would sneak to the sports fields and imitate sprinting as I had seen on YouTube videos that I watched often in my dormitory room”.
Not only did these workouts enable him to unlock his first potential which took him to his first ever NASH appearance at just 15, but additionally, just a few months down the road, Kundai earned a seat on the plane with the Zimbabwe schools’ sports squad that travelled to Lesotho for the Cosassa Games in 2015.
“We didn’t do well in our event, as we dropped the relay baton before it could get to me. I was gutted, but I remember my parents consoling me, saying it was the start of something new.” Little did the young man know he’d go on to become the 200m national champion a year later. This hugely boosted his confidence and helped attract many eyes with the performance.
Soon, Kundai qualified for the African Junior Championships in which he earned a hard-fought silver medal in the 200m in Tlemcen, Algeria.
He claims “it hit me,” as he realised he was about to get the opportunity to race against his role models as it was in Algeria that he earned an athletics scholarship to Iowa’s Drake University which competes in the Missouri Valley Conference in the United States where Kundai subsequently shone like a beacon.
“Second-best 200m junior in Africa was not a small achievement but it made me realise I just had to work hard as the competition obviously gets harder as you move up in age.”
Asked if there was any other sport he’d pursue?
“I think it would have to be football. All my friends flatter me saying, ‘go try out, you’ll make the cut easy because no football player in the world is faster than you — plus the joy you express when playing.’ I love football. My favourite team is Manchester City. I probably would play as a winger. During the running off-season, I usually join recreational football teams as this helps me build endurance and clears my mind. I get off the track and stay on the grass which helps me recover the psychological and physiological ability to adapt to the track when the running season returns.”
Kundai is excited about this impending professional chapter. “It’s been something that has always been part of the plan. Growing up in Zimbabwe, I was not exposed to the sport as much as I have been in the USA through the American NCAA collegiate system.
“I dream of smashing the 10-second barrier. It is a special physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100m sprint (men) in under 10 seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the definitive hallmark of a true world-class male sprinter. The current men’s world record holder is Usain Bolt (Jamaica) who ran a blistering 9.58 seconds at the 2009 IAAF World Championships.
“Only two Zimbabweans have ever dipped below 10 seconds. I am a mere 22 hundredths of a second outside of a sub-10 seconds 100m. I would like to achieve 9.99 seconds and lower it to 9.77 seconds by January 2024 — for a possible fastest time ever by a Zimbabwean.
“It is much easier said than done! It will demand a punishing amount of constant track work, lifting lots of iron, eating clean, forcing lots of rest and recovery between sessions. This is where professional support is critical.”
Working with high-level, professional coaches has revealed new insights, clearly showing Kundai what he has to do in order to attain his goals which include running the 100m this year and then specialising by year-end in just the 200m and 400m.
He also believes Zimbabwe, as a nation, deserves more.
“I know Zimbabwe can be amongst the track and field giants like the USA and Jamaica, not only in the individual races but in the relays too. We have had a group of guys making it to the top stages before, even though they did not win medals at the highest level. Now that a whole group of USA-based athletes (have) done with college, those turning professional like myself can fully dedicate our time to working hard and achieving these goals. We just need lots of financial, technical and moral support from such as the mother body for athletics in Zimbabwe, NAAZ, the Sport and Recreation Commission, sporting-friendly corporates and individuals with financial muscle. My goal is simple; to train hard and run as fast as I can, and achieve a podium finish for Zimbabwe at a major world event.
“My journey has only begun; and with the Olympics a year away in France, my resolute focus is on Paris 2024. Hopefully, I am not the only Maguranyanga that will be announced on the Zimbabwean Olympic team. I have a cousin TJ Maguranyanga who plays rugby professionally in France in the top league there. We promised each other to be our brother’s keeper. So I must make the Olympics to also earn the free ticket TJ promised me to go watch a Paris Saint-Germain match.”
Kundai knows it will not be easy but that is all a part of the tough game.
“Most people think we just go out on the track and run, which is true but there is more to it. The mental element is very important. If your mental game is not strong, it hinders you from achieving your true potential.
“I believe this professionalism turn is one for the books”, emphatically declares the well-spoken Kundai, a Zimbabwean patriot who says he would like to ideally launch his turning professional from Zimbabwe, not his current base in the US. “I have asked my manager, Gerald (Maguranyanga), to organise so I launch-out from Zimbabwe. I want the blessings of my family and the people (Zimbabweans) as I start on this challenging journey.”
Kundai concludes the interview by quoting Stephen Schwartz: “Every project has challenges and every project has its rewards.”
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