Makusha flying with the best

Bulawayo Bureau
CRACK Zimbabwe long jumper Ngoni Makusha now occupies second spot on the best distances cleared for 2014 on the indoor circuit.
Makusha had for almost a month ruled the roost with his 8.10m jump on January 11 in Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States.
On that day he won his event and followed up with another first place in Bordeaux, France, on 26 January after clearing 8.04m which left him among the top 10 in the world.
Last Thursday, the Zimbabwean was again in Europe where he managed to win gold on the professional long jump circuit.

He jumped 8.18m in Stockholm, Sweden, which is now the world’s second best jump of the year with the finals for the indoor competitions set for next month.
The world’s jump so far has been Aleksander Menkov’s 8.30m leap in Russia on February 1.
Tyron Stewart of the US has the world’s third best jump of 8.16m.

Makusha is also the record holder of the Zimbabwe 100m dash with a time of 9.89s.
He is expected to lead the country’s search for medals at this year’s World Championships.

While Makusha continues to impress, Narada Jackson, a Zimbabwean sprinter based in the US who grew up in Harare, is creating waves in the 400m indoor events.
He has already run a season’s best of 46.75 seconds.

Because of the complexity of the indoor 400m, he is tipped to run a sub 45.5 seconds lap in outdoor competitions after the World Indoor Championships.
Jackson was first in his heat at Albquerque in the States on February 1.

The Zimbabwean’s time was, as of last night, the 34th best in the world though competition is hotting up with a number of events on the American collegiate scene and professional circuit.