Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube
ZIMBABWE athletes’ performances on the indoor scene so far point to a great year in international track running.
National record holder in the 200m, Tapiwanashe Makarawu, finds himself third best in the world with a time of 20,48 seconds which he ran on January 18.
The best effort so far this season was run by Swedish runner Erik Elarndsson on January 17 and its 20.43 seconds, well outside Makarawu’s season best for 2024 of 20,29s, which made him a top three finisher for the season.
In what could be a repeat of the 2024 season, Makanakaishe Charamba, who made it into the Olympics final in the 200m with Makarawu, is on number five of the best times over the indoor distance this year in 20.55s.
Former Bulawayo athlete Denzil Simusialela started the month of February with a bang, running the 32nd best time of the season on Saturday.
He timed 20.91s with Takudzwa Chiyangwa in 86th place with 21.11s on Friday.
On an outdoor court, where about 100m is straight, these athletes are expected to do better times and qualify for the Tokyo World Championships this year.
Makarawu was at his blistering season last year and set a new record of 19.93s on the outdoor track with Charamba also running a personal best of 19.95s.
Chiyangwa has made a strong case for the 400m and 200m for the upcoming outdoor season by running the third best 300m time of 32.38s. Another Zimbabwean, who finds himself in the top 50 of the 300m race in 33,42s, is Takudzwa Pahuma.
He also has a season’s best in the 400m of 46,89s which is 60th best time in the world.
Zimbabwe may have strong 4×100 and 4x400m teams.
Female sprinter Vimbai Maisvoreva ran 52,21s in the indoor 400m for a ninth best time of the year over the distance.
Mathew Masinge