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Lovemore Dube

THE Paris Olympics will start on Friday next week with Zimbabwe’s medal hopes pinned on seven athletes. 

They will bid their luck and proficiency in their disciplines against the world’s best in sprints, swimming, marathon running, and rowing. Marathon runner Isaac Mpofu who finished sixth in the Boston Marathon in April will face a field of some of the best marathon runners the world has at the moment. 

While East Africans have dominated the distance, athletes from Europe, the United States, and Central Africa always have a shout in the proceedings. 

Mpofu will enter the race to chase a personal milestone of a sub 2 hours 6 minutes for 42,2km. A podium finish will surely be a bonus that the country will celebrate if it comes. 

He is in the best condition and has worked hard over the past two years with great support from the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe, his employers, the Zimbabwe Correctional Services, and Nedbank. 

Mpofu holds the national record of 2 hours 6 minutes 48 seconds clocked in December 2022 when he qualified for the 2024 Olympics. His strong finish against a world-class field in Boston last. April of the sixth means he cannot be ignored and has a strong possibility of a good position in the Olympics. 

With a time of 19.93 seconds in the 200m, Tapiwanashe Makarawu heading into the Olympics, the Zimbabwean record holder is in the best frame of mind. He has a silver medal from last month’s Douala, Cameroon Senior African Championships, and a top 10 time worldwide this year. 

He has enjoyed good progression from last year where his time ended as the 27th best in the world and to show he has worked hard ahead of Paris, Makarawu at one stage had his 20,29 seconds indoor mark as the second best in the world. 

At some stage, his 19.93 seconds was a top-five effort for this year on the conventional track but some blistering performances on the final day of the US Olympic trials, saw Noah Lyles, Kenneth Bednarek, and Erriyon Nighton cement their places among the favourites as they head into the Games first, second, and sixth respectively with times of 19.53, 19.59, and 1977. With two US athletes who are in the top 10 set to miss the Olympics as only three can represent their country, Makarawu if he goes through the qualifying stages and with the benefit of good lanes, may face the obstacle of Lyles, Bednarek, Knighton, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo who has run 19.71 seconds and is fourth on best times for 2024 and Uganda’s Tarsis Gracious Orgorot who has done 19.75. 

Another athlete to contend with could be France’s Ryan Zeze who has a best time of 19.90 seconds. 

Zimbabwe has Makanakaishe Charamba, who decided to skip the African Championships to concentrate on his medal bid in Paris. He is the second fastest Zimbabwean ever over the distance with a time of 19.95 seconds. Charamba is ranked 13th as of today barring greater performances in the Diamond League race this weekend, he could benefit from a better lane from the qualifiers and sneak into the final. 

Both Charamba and Makarawu would be eager to better Brian Dzingai’s fourth-place finish at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

It promises to be an exciting Olympics for Zimbabwe sprint lovers, with the two athletes carrying Zimbabwe’s best hopes since 1980 as in the build-up they have been world-standard athletes. 

Stephen Cox will dare the world in the rowing contest while Mpofu will have compatriot Rutendo Nyahora in the marathon.