Zimbabwe sprinters hold out their own

Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub

ZIMBABWE sprinters have despite a month’s inactivity because the US NCAA Track and Field season is over, maintained their top rankings in the world.

The season ended on a high with the country’s top sprinters Makanakaishe Charamba and Tapiwanashe Makarawu up there in college sport having dominated the indoor season and excelled on the outdoor.

Their joint 20,13 seconds was the fastest of the year and it really indicated what to expect outdoors.

When the outdoor season started they continued from where they had left with good times.

Charamba had appeared to be on fire with a 19,92 seconds 200m which became the national record in April but Makarawu improved the time to 19,84, a time that is ranked third in the world this year.

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo last week ran the fastest time over the distance clocking 19,76 seconds, a sure warning that he still has a lot of gas in his tank.

Last year he won the Olympic title and dominated several high-profile international events.

All three Southern Africa n runners made it to the Olympic final, with the stage proving too hot for the Zimbabweans who were at the tail end.

But reaching the Olympic final, was a great achievement, punctuated by the fact that it was the first time that two Zimbabwean athletes had made it to the final of the Olympics’ sprints.

Previously, Brian Dzingai had run in the Beijing final.

Charamba, Makarawu and Tebogo have qualified for the World Championships to be held in Tokyo, Japan in September.

Denzel Siamusialela has the third fastest time in the 200m, 20.40 seconds which leaves him 89th in the world.

David Nyamupfarira’s college season ended with his best time in the 100m, 10.11 seconds, it ranks 104th in the world.

Vimbai Maisvoreva with 50,25 seconds in the women’s 400m, is 19th worldwide, being a mixture of both elite professionals, college student athletes and those running in their home countries.

Maisvoreva clinched her ticket to Tokyo where as of now five athletes have been confirmed.

The other two are marathon runners Tendai Zimuto and national record holder Isaac Mpofu.

Ashley Miller, the 400m hurdles record holder, set a new national mark of 56,03 seconds, the world’s 63rd best.

With the university students not taking part in competitions, the question remains how long will they maintain their high rankings?