Online Reporter
Petros Kausiyo in TOKYO, Japan
DESPITE missing out on a podium finish, Tapiwanashe Makarawu left the World Athletics Championships with his head high as the seventh fastest 200m sprinter on the planet.
The Zimbabwe record holder, who clocked 19.84 seconds earlier in the season, settled for seventh place in last night’s 200m final after crossing the line in 20.12 seconds. The race at Tokyo’s National Stadium was billed as a showdown between Botswana’s Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo and American star Noah Lyles, but it was Lyles who powered to a fourth world title in 19.52. Fellow American Kenneth Bednarek claimed silver in 19.58, while Jamaica’s Bryan Levell took bronze in 19.64.
Tebogo managed a season best 19.65 for fourth and later admitted that he was still regaining full fitness after injury.
For Zimbabweans, all eyes were on Makarawu, their only finalist, and though he didn’t hit his earlier times, his presence in a field of global heavyweights was a triumph on its own.
“First of all, I want to thank God for the opportunity to race in this final,” Makarawu said. “Not many great athletes made it to the final, and for me to have been part of those competing is a great honour. But in this race, I just felt tired. It has been a long season. I am not offering any excuses but I have been racing at college for months while some of my colleagues had some time to rest. It was a tight race out there full of quality and I am still happy to have finished seventh. I will now go back and take a deserved break and then try to come back stronger and keep pushing.”
Makarawu had shown his form in the earlier rounds, clocking 19.91 in the heats and 19.98 in the semi-final. Although he had struggled slightly on the bend from lane 7 in the semis, he said the move to lane 3 for the final “did not make much of a difference. There wasn’t much of a change and in any case we all still ran the same 200m so I accept the result and like I said I thank God for being able to compete in this final.’’
Team Zimbabwe wrapped up an encouraging campaign in Japan with Makarawu and fellow sprinter Makanakaishe Charamba set to return to their United States bases today and tomorrow along with team physiotherapist and former national sprint champion Lewis Banda.
Veteran marathoner Isaac Mpofu had set the tone for the squad with a 10th-place finish on Monday, while debutants Ashley Miller, Vimbayi Maisvorewa, and long-distance runner Tendai Zimuto gained valuable experience. Miller competed in the 400m hurdles and Maisvorewa in the 400m, while Zimuto battled through the marathon to finish 61st.
Team leader and National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe director of coaching and talent identification, Phakamile Lisimati, was pleased with the collective effort. “I think these games were quite good for the athletes. The athletes did impress in their outing and they did their best. It is unfortunate that we did not have all our sprinters in the final but I think it is an important turn in Zimbabwean athletics,” he said.
Lisimati pointed to upcoming competitions as fresh opportunities to turn lessons into medals.
“We can start and aim for the medals now that our athletes have had a feel of the World Championships, which are different from the Olympics and any other competitions. Generally, the World Champs were a very good stepping stone for the eight who came here. We can only build from here and our immediate task is to build for the World Relays in Botswana in February.
“We also have the African Senior Championships in Ghana next year, where we are aiming to pick up medals from almost everyone who was here. In the African Games Ashley got us a medal and we believe the sprinters will make podium performances as well as our relays and mixed relays. There is no marathon at the African Senior Championships.’’
