Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE athletes’ commanding start to the 2025 outdoor season is exciting the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe director of coaching, Phakamile Lisimati.
He is upbeat that a decent number of athletes will make the grade for the World Athletics Championships, to be held in Tokyo, Japan.
“There have been a number of good performances, quite impressive performances from our athletes,” said Lisimati in an interview with Zimpapers Sports Hub from his Gwanda base on Tuesday.
Woman sprinter, Vimbai Maisvoreva ran the world’s eighth-best time of the year, 50.25 seconds, in the 400m on Saturday. The best so far is 48.67 seconds by Salwa Eid Nasar of Brunei, clocked on April 5. What made Maisvoreva’s time all the sweeter was that it is within the qualifying range for the World Championships.
Lisimati could not hide his excitement: “I am just excited Vimbai has qualified for the World Championships.”
The qualifying standard for the women’s 400m at the World Championships is 50.75 seconds.
She has, over the years, come close to qualifying, improving her times steadily, and with the season just beginning, it is hoped that by the time the national collegiate finals are held in a month’s time, she will have improved her time even further.
At this rate, she could become the first-ever Zimbabwean female athlete to run a sub-50-second 400m.
What excites Lisimati further is that Makanakaishe Charamba holds the world’s leading time in the 200m, 19.99 seconds, clocked in the US on April 18.
“I am very happy with Charamba too. He has the world-leading time in the 200m, which is very good news and development for our athletics. We are monitoring our young sprinters,” said Lisimati.
Sinesipho Dambile of South Africa has the second-best 200m outdoor time of 20.01 seconds. Liberia’s Joseph Fahrobullah is fifth in the world but third in Africa with a time of 20.07 seconds, while South Africa’s Bayanda Walaza is seventh globally and fourth on the continent with 20.08 seconds. Tapiwanashe Makarawu’s time of 20.13 seconds, achieved on March 19 during the indoor finals, is the ninth-best of the year and ranks him fifth, among African athletes. Denzel Siamusilela is 113th in the 200m rankings with 20.67 seconds.
The women’s 4x100m relay team has posted a notable 45.97 seconds, the third-best time, among African countries. Liberia leads with 43.97 seconds, while Botswana has clocked 44.96 seconds.
In the men’s 100m, as of Tuesday, David Nyamufarira’s 10.02 seconds is the world’s 10th-best time. He needs to shave off just 0.02 seconds to qualify for the World Championships in August, and the next two months will be crucial to both his dreams and the country’s ambitions for international recognition as a sprints powerhouse.
Tafadzwa Chikomba has recorded the 26th-best long jump of the year. His recent leap of 8.06m gives hope that he could reach the 8.27m qualifying mark for Japan, or qualify if he stays within the world’s top 32 by the close of the qualification window.
Another field event star in world contention is Chengetai Mapaya, a silver medallist at the African Championships in Douala, Cameroon, with a season’s best of 16.83m in the triple jump, though still short of the 17.22m qualifying mark. He is ranked 19th globally.
Denis Hove, one of the country’s best 400m sprinters still competing locally, is 58th in the world with a time of 45.50 seconds.
He needs to shave off 0.5 seconds to qualify for Tokyo. He could also make it if the 4x400m team, set to compete at the World Relays, finishes among the top 14 in China next month.
Zimbabwe is slowly drawing attention in the world of sprints with these brilliant performances.
