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Tinashe Kusema
NATIONAL Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (NAAZ) president Tendayi Tagara felt vindicated as news broke that United States-based sprinter Tapiwa Makarawu yesterday made the grade for this year’s Olympic Games.
Tagara had always insisted on the competitiveness of Makarawu.
Competing for his college, New Mexico Junior College, the 23-year-old took pole position in the 200-metre heats at the Corky Crofoot Invitational Inter-College meet with a time of 19.93 seconds.
His time was well within the Olympic qualifying range.
One needs to run 20.16 seconds or under to qualify for the Games.
It was also a double milestone for Makarawu as he also broke the long-standing national 200m record set by Brian Dzingai (20.12 seconds) in 2004.
It was a good day in the office for Zimbabwe’s US-based athletes as Donald Chiyangwa also won in the 400m race with a time of 45.47 seconds.
Chiyangwa, just like Makarawu, is on the books of New Mexico Junior College.
The day, however, belonged to Makarawu, who joined long-distance runner Isaac Mpofu among the small contingent of Zimbabwe’s athletes who have so far made it to the Olympics.
Zimbabwe rowers qualified one boat in the men’s single sculls for the Games through the 2023 African Qualification Regatta in Tunis, Tunisia. However, the rowing team for the Games is still to be named.
It was Makarawu’s achievement that left his NAAZ boss, Tagara, purring.
“Brilliant!” he said. “I knew it and I have been saying for some time now that Zimbabwe is not going to the Olympics without a sprinter. I am not at all surprised that Tapiwa finally made the grade.
“He has been working towards this for some time now. If you look at his performances over the last couple of months, you could see that it was just a matter of time before he made the required time. He had a good indoor season and seamlessly transitioned that form into the outdoor season.”
Tagara has long been a big fan of Makarawu and was full of praise for the 23-year-old and his fellow US-based athletes.
“Tapiwa (Makarawu) is the youngest amongst the runners we have in the United States of America, but he has shown the most potential,” he said. “He is one of the nicest kids you will ever meet, but a total beast once on the track.
“One could see from a very early age that there was something special about the kid. He is humble, polite, hardworking and very down to earth.
“There is a lesson for the rest of the crop in the US, a message I am always singing, in which we want these kids to run for their country and not just have podium finishes for the colleges and universities there.”
Zimbabwe Olympic Committee marketing and communications officer Chido Lisa Manuwa said: “As the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC), we are very happy and proud of Tapiwa Makarawu as Team Zimbabwe is getting bigger and starting to take shape.
“We will continue to monitor all of our athletes locally and around the globe to see in what way we can help them also qualify.”
ZOC expects sprinter Makanakaishe Charamba, triple jumper Chengetayi Mapaya, triathlon’s Andy Kuipers, swimmer Liam Davis and more long-distance runners to qualify.
Online Reporter