Makusha’s impressive debut

Budapest on Saturday night where he took a credible second place in the men’s 100-metre race.
Makusha, who turned professional last month after spending the past three years on an athletics scholarship at Florida State University in the United States, announced his arrival on the international stage by posting a good time of 10.16 seconds when coming second behind one of Jamaica’s top sprinters and former world champion Asafa Powell.
According to reports from Budapest, Powell won the 100-metre race in 9.86 seconds at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday, the fastest run in that country.
The Jamaican was the only competitor to run under 10 seconds in windy conditions and 68-degree temperature at Ferenc Puskas Stadium, finishing ahead of Makusha of Zimbabwe and Andrew Hinds of Barbados (10.24 seconds).
Makusha’s time was, however, outside his Zimbabwean national record of 9.89 seconds set on June 10 this year at the National Collegiate Athletics Association Outdoor Championships at Des Moines in Iowa, United States.
At the Des Moines meet, Makusha’s also broke the national collegiate record in the 100m, winning the event in an astounding 9.89 seconds.
It was the fastest time in NCAA history ands the second dominant performance of the meet for Makusha, who won the long jump in 8.40 metres – the best mark at the NCAA meet in 18 years.
Running on a wet track and slight tailwind, Makusha broke the 100m mark of 9.90 seconds set by Ato Boldon of UCLA in 1996.
And that remarkable feat saw Makusha joining Michigan’s DeHart Hubbard (1925), Ohio’s Jesse Owens (1936-36) and Houston’s Carl Lewis (1981) as the only athletes to sweep the 100m and long jump at an NCAA meet.
And after sending tongues wagging in Iowa with his two outstanding performances in the 100m and long jump events, Makusha announced his decision to forego his senior season at Florida State University and compete professionally.
This saw him travelling to Hungary for his debut in the tough world of professional athletics on Saturday night and he didn’t disappoint as he finished second behind Jamaican “powerhouse” Powell.
In coming second, Makusha also managed to beat another top and seasoned Jamaican sprinter Dexter Lee (10.30 seconds) into fourth place.
Lee is also a two-time IAAF World Junior champion.
Thuso Mpuang of South Africa, was another African who took part in the same 100m race on Saturday night and was placed seventh in 10.63 seconds.
But plaudits should go to Makusha, the NCAA Division One champion and seventh-ranked man in the world this year, who handled the pressure well and was not hit by stage fright, especially coming up against the likes of such household names like Powell and Lee, in his first outing as a professional athlete.
“I could have gone a lot faster today but I was working on some stuff,” said Powell, whose personal best is 9.72, after beating debutant Makusha into second place on Saturday night. “It was cold and I was a bit cautious. It was still a good time.”
Powell will compete at the Aviva Grand Prix Diamond League meet in London next weekend.
It’s his last race before the World Championships, which start on August 27 in Daegu, South Korea, where Makusha will also be representing Zimbabwe.
“This is my year and I’ll try my best. We’ll see if it’s enough for a gold medal (at the worlds),” said Powell, who won bronze in the 100m at the worlds championships in 2007 and 2009.
Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica won the women’s 200m event in 22.26 seconds, with Sanya Richards-Ross of the United States came second in 22.63.
Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria was third. Joel Craddock led an American sweep of the top three spots in the 110 hurdles, winning in 13.48. Kevin Craddock was second, followed by Jeff Porter.
Kevin Borlee of Belgium took the 400 in 45.91, followed by Hungary’s Marcell Deak Nagy and Erison Hurtault of France. Double-amputee Oscar Pistorius of South Africa, who runs on carbon-fiber blades and qualified for the able-bodied worlds for the first time earlier this month, was last in the 400m after finishing in 47.47. The meet was the inaugural edition of the Istvan Gyulai Memorial, commemorating the late secretary-general of the IAAF who died in 2006.
He was a sprinter in his youth, winning 28 national championships in Hungary.