Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sporst Hub
ZIMBABWE’S sprint queens, Ashley Miller and Samukeliso Ndebele, exploded into their 2025 outdoor athletics seasons last weekend with performances that hint at even bigger things to come.
This year, with no Olympics on the calendar, the World Championships, set for Tokyo, Japan, this August, represent the ultimate prize for every athlete.
Already, Zimbabwe’s 200m specialists Makanakaishe Charamba and Tapiwanashe Makarawu have punched their tickets to Tokyo, while Denzel Siamusialela has turned heads with a blistering 19.97-second run, although wind-assisted (3.6m/s). Without the tailwind, it would have been the fastest legal time this year, ahead of Charamba’s 19.99 seconds, the top official mark.
Charamba, the former Bulawayo sprinter, clocked his time at Levelland, Texas, in the United States.
Both he and Makarawu qualified last year, with Makarawu becoming the first Zimbabwean to break the 20-second barrier, sprinting 19.93 seconds, and Charamba closely following at 19.95 seconds during a stellar season in which both reached the final at the Paris Olympics.
Meanwhile, Ndebele made a statement of her own, flashing a clean pair of heels to win gold in the 100m sprint at the Francistown meet in Botswana on Sunday, clocking a new personal best of 11.78 seconds.
She will be the sprinter to watch at next month’s Zimbabwe Inter-Provincial Championships in Bulawayo, where she will contest the 100m and 200m events.
However, her time remains short of the World Championships qualifying standard of 11.07 seconds, leaving her with some work to do before the end-of-June deadline.
African Games medalist Miller, on the other hand, opened her 2025 season in style, winning the 400m hurdles in the US with a solid time of 56.07 seconds, ranked 24th in the world this season.
There is growing optimism that Zimbabwean athletes will continue improving their times by June, raising hopes for a larger contingent at the World Championships.
Smiles, too, for National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe president Tendai Tagara, whose partnership with 5Brands Consulting Group has seen the federation’s fortunes improve. Their efforts have already borne fruit with Zimbabwe’s 4x400m relay team qualifying for next month’s World Relays in Guazhong, China.
Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing for the Arnold Payne-Ndaba Mdhlongwa Track and Field Championships and the Inter-Provincial Championships, both scheduled for White City Stadium, the venue that recently hosted a highly successful junior meet on April 12.
Beyond the track, Moses Tarakinyu put on a masterclass on the roads of Francistown, clinching victory at the Botswana Telecommunications Marathon in 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 15 seconds.
Fitness First Athletics Club of Bulawayo also made a strong showing. Vincent Moyo won the Veterans title in 2:42:52, with city lawyer Misheck Matanhire taking second and Marvelous Masango third, earning P4 000, P3 000, and P2 000 respectively.
Their 58-year-old teammate, Fatima Hassin, finished second in her category, pocketing P3 000, capping off one of the club’s most successful outings on the road.
The club’s athletes are now shifting focus to the iconic Comrades Marathon set for June.
