Online Reporter
Curtworth Masango
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE men’s 4x400m relay team did not win their heat, but they ran like a country that refused to be left behind.
Leeford Zuze, Gerren Muwishi, Thandazani Ndlovu and Dennis Hove booked their place at the World Championships in Beijing after producing a blistering national record of 2:59.01 at the World Relays in Botswana yesterday.
They finished third in a fiercely contested heat, a placing that usually kills automatic qualification hopes.
But this was no ordinary third-place finish.
Zimbabwe’s time was extraordinary enough to drag them through as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers, securing a berth as the second-best placed country outside the direct qualification slots, behind the Netherlands.
And in doing so, they tore up their own national record of 3:00.69.
That mattered.
In a race where margins can bury dreams, Zimbabwe ran themselves into history.
Their clocking was not just fast; it was decisive. It turned what looked like heartbreak on the track into one of Zimbabwean athletics’ biggest relay breakthroughs.
For team captain Muwishi, the mission was always bigger than the heat result.
“We are just happy to be there. Everyone is happy. Our main goal was to qualify for the World Championship, and now that we have, we are going to Beijing,” he
said.
The captain said the record was another reward for a team that arrived focused on qualification first.
“The boys put up a solid performance, and we broke the national record again for the second time. Going into the final, the guys were just here to have fun after we solidified qualification,” he said.
“As of breaking the record, we didn’t come here with it as the ultimate goal. We came here to enjoy and seek qualification and it happened.”
Now the pressure shifts after qualification has been secured and history made.
But Sunday’s World Relays final at the same Botswana venue now offers Zimbabwe something even bigger, a shot at a medal, and another chance to prove
this team is not just making up the numbers.
For now, Beijing is secured.
