dyton mupawaenda
Ellina Mhlanga-Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE’S 4x400m men’s relay team has blazed its way into the history books, and onto the global stage, after qualifying for next month’s World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25 in China.
For national coach Aaron Whyte, it’s more than just a qualification. It’s a milestone moment that signals a new chapter for the country’s sprint relay aspirations.
“It’s actually a huge milestone,” Whyte said.
“And it’s the first time Zimbabwe has qualified for the 4x400m to compete at the World Relays Championships, which is also another milestone.”
The quartet of Leeford Zuze, Gerren Muwishi, Aldrin Mafa, and Dennis Hove sealed their place among the world’s best with a standout performance at the Lefika International Relays in Francistown, Botswana on March 29, clocking 3 minutes 03.39 seconds – a time that eventually secured them the 28th spot on the World Athletics ranking list.
With only the top 32 nations making it to Guangzhou, Zimbabwe’s position remained unshaken through the qualification window, which closed on April 13.
“We remained on 28th. No team managed to topple us from that position, which is quite good,” Whyte noted.
“And if you look at it, most of the teams that qualified to be in the top 32 actually did it last year at the Olympics. No major teams managed to qualify this year.”
Zimbabwe’s timing couldn’t have been better. The qualification route included automatic places for the top 16 teams from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with the remaining slots awarded based on world rankings within the qualification period running from January 1, 2024 to April 13, 2025.
The confirmation of Zimbabwe’s spot in Guangzhou came through on Tuesday night.
Whyte, one of the key technical figures guiding the relay teams, hailed the athletes’ commitment and the collective effort behind the achievement.
“We are super excited because we can see that we are moving in the right direction and the hard work is beginning to pay off.
“I salute all the coaches who have worked with this team and the athletes themselves. They sacrificed quite a lot. They put in a lot to just go and achieve those results,” he said.
In a bid to secure more relay qualifications, Zimbabwe returned to Botswana for the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix over the past weekend, this time with the men’s and women’s 4x100m squads.
However, with limited participation in the relay events, the national team ended up contesting the 4x400m mixed relay instead.
For the men’s 4x400m team, their previous Francistown time proved to be enough. The team had hoped to improve their time just in case their ranking was threatened, but no late surge from rival nations materialised.
“We are hitting the ground running,” said Whyte.
“We have actually started training. So, we are just going to start regeneration. And then after regeneration, we are just going to get back to proper training.”
National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (NAAZ) president Tendayi Tagara was equally full of praise and hinted at the depth being built into the squad ahead of Guangzhou.
“It’s a good performance. The team is balanced when you have athletes running 45, 46 seconds,” said Tagara.
“We are going to gel it again with two juniors who qualified at the National Junior Championships and at NASH to make a team of almost about six, then we travel with five.”
That internal competition is expected to intensify over the coming weeks, as final squad selections are made.
“Everybody is going to compete for a place for the top five. Then the coach would determine those who run when they get to Guangzhou,” Tagara said.
As the countdown begins to the May 10-11 showcase in China, Zimbabwe can already celebrate a powerful statement: they belong on the world stage and they’re sprinting there, baton in hand.
Online Reporter