Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
FORMER Prince Edward High School learner Tinotenda Matiyenga (21) shaved off 0.5 seconds from his 200m indoor record at the 2021 US Track and Field, and Cross Country Association event last Saturday
Matiyenga erased his previous record of 20.80seconds that he ran in the United States on February 14,2020, to set a new one of 20.75 seconds.
Despite smashing his national record, the senior Texas Christian University athletics scholarship student only managed a sixth place in the 200m dash.
Matiyenga, was among three promising Zimbabwean track and field athletes, who included Chengetayi Mapaya and Kundai Maguranyanga, that took part in the US Track and Field, and Cross Country Association meet representing Texas Christian University.
The university is ranked 13th in the latest United States Track and Field, and Cross Country Association rankings.
Maguranyanga, a junior at the Texas Christian University, completed the 200m race in a time of 20.95 seconds.
While Matiyenga rewrote the record books with his sprint, Mapaya lept closer to a 23-year-old Zimbabwe triple jump record in his 2021 debut leap.
He leaped 16.63m, but still fell short of the March 28, 1998, record jump of 17.43m set by Ndabezinhle Mdlongwa at a meet held in Lafayette, USA.
According to National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) president Tendai Tagara, Mapaya is raising his prospects of overhauling Mdlongwa’s longstanding record considering that this was his first competition this year.
“If he maintains his hard work, he is on course to breaking the longstanding national record. He is getting top class training and is one of the country’s future medal hopefuls,” said Tagara.
While Matiyenga holds the 200m indoor record, the 200m outdoor record is held by Brian Dzingai who set a time of 20.12 seconds at a competition in Austin, Texas, on June 10, 2004.
Dzingai is a member of the golden generation of Zimbabwean sprinters that set a national record of 39.16 seconds in the 4X100m relay.
He set the national record while on a scholarship in the USA where he is still based.
Dzingai graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance in 2005 and went on to earn an MBA in finance from Florida State University in 2007.
While in graduate school, Dzingai also prepared for and participated in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
He, however, didn’t make it past the second round even though he was ranked the seventh fastest 200m sprinter in the world at that time.
After graduating with an MBA in 2007, he continued with his athletics career and qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
This time he made to 200m final and narrowly missed a bronze medal when he finished fourth in a time of 20.22 seconds.
The gold medal was taken by the great Usain Bolt in a world record time.
Dzingai has declared that Bolt is the toughest sprinter he has competed against.
He moved to Chicago in 2014 to take up the position of project manager at HighTower, a financial advisory firm.
He then moved to another advisory company Blustrata Inc in Chicago where he’s currently at.
He is also an assistant track and field coach at Illinois Tech.
Another national record holder is Ngoni Makusha, a 2008 Olympian, two-time track athlete of the year and former Drake assistant track and field coach.
Makusha, who is now the University of California Davis’ men’s and women’s track and field head coach, is the Zimbabwe 100m national record holder.
Makusha set the record of 9.89 seconds at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division Championships at Des Moines in Iowa on June 10, 2011.
Makusha had a colourful career on the track and field during which he represented In the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he finished fourth in the long jump.
In 2011, Makusha returned to international competition at the IAAF World Championships where he made it to the semi-finals of the 100m and claimed a bronze medal in the long jump.
His leap of 8.40m at the 2011 NCAA meet is still Zimbabwe’s long jump record.
He won seven NCAA titles in the long jump, 100m and 4X100m relay.
He set the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC, a collegiate athletic conference) record in the 100m in 2011.
During his senior season, Makusha scooped the Bowerman Award, NCAA Male Track Athlete of the Year, and ACC Male Athlete of the Year.
The Bowerman award is presented annually by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Association to the most outstanding male and female NCAA track and field athletes in the country.
Makusha graduated from Florida State University with an economics degree in 2011 and received his master’s in leadership development at Drake in 2019.
Lewis Banda’s 44.58 seconds is the national 400m record that has stood since 2004, while Sivieri Ngidhi set the national record of 1 minute 45.03 seconds in the 800m in Caorle, Italy, on June 15, 1996.
Other men’s national record holders are Phillimon Hanneck in the 1 500m (3 min 35.76s), 3 000m (7 min 42.06s) and 5 000m (13 min 14.50s).
Hanneck’s records were set in 1991, 1992 and 1994.
Current Naaz Athletes Commission chairperson Cuthbert Nyasango is the national record holder in the 10 000m which he ran in 27 min 57.34s in Alves, Spain, in 2007.
Nyasango is also the national record holder in road races for the 20km (58 min 43s) set in 2006, half-marathon (1hr 26s) in October 2007 in Italy, 30km (1hr 30 min 33s), 35km (1hr 46 min 09s), 40km (2hrs 02 min 19s) and marathon (2hrs 09 min 52s) set in Prague, Czech Republic.
In the women’s events, Winneth Dube holds the national records in the 100m and 200m that she set in 2004. Her 100m record is 11.36 seconds and 200m stands at 23.23 seconds.
Former cop Julia Sakala set two national records in the 800m (2 min 00.29s) and 1 500m (4 min 07.82s) at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. She also holds the 3 000m national record of 8 min 57.69s posted in Stuttgart, Germany, in the 1993 World Championships.
Naaz director of coaching, talent identification and development Lisimati Phakamile said lack of sponsorship and incentives at junior level contributed to the country’s failure to produce “fully developed” athletes that can challenge the standing records.
“It has been difficult mainly because of various reasons, among them, lack of serious commitment by athletes to chase records, lack of motivation, be it intrinsically or extrinsic motivation, different training and coaching methods back then. We can also attribute some to the lack of appreciation (incentives for record breaking etc) by the association.
“If you look at the time of the Nyasangos, he ran through junior competitions and didn’t rush to compete in senior road races that pay well. But nowadays young athletes are quick to forgo track races for road races which pay well.
You’ll also realise that back then when some of these records were set, the sport was open with minimal stringent rules on anti-doping and age cheating,” said Phakamile.
He said Naaz has been supporting its athletes by providing services that enhance performance improvement, training camps, travelling and competitions financial support, equipment and coaching support in an effort to produce podium finishers.
“Naaz has managed to engage its stakeholders such as ZOC, SRC and parents to help provide essential services to athletes that have great potential and this is an ongoing programme to deliberately assist these athletes in achieving their goals and challenge for honours in the elite stages of performance,” Phakamile said. — @ZililoR
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