Makarau secures a spot at Japan 2025 World Championships
MICHAEL KARIATI
Rising athlete Tapiwa Makarau of Zimbabwe, who stormed to the finals of the 200-meter event at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, last night, has been awarded extra recognition for his incredible performance.
The sprinter qualified for the 2025 World Championship, which will take place in Japan, with a time of 20.07 seconds in the 200-meter heats in the semi-finals.
The qualifying time for 200 metres at the 2025 World Championships is 20.16 seconds.
The World Championships are confirmation of global supremacy and Olympic gold medal winners go out to prove that their triumph was not a fluke while others go out to prove that they too are capable of podium finishes in such events.
“…. I am happy with what I have done. Anything else on top comes as a bonus,” Makarau told the media.
Makarau along with Charamba are two of the seven member Zimbabwean team that also includes rower Stephen Cox and swimmers Denilson Cyprianos and Paige der Westhuizen.
The other two members Rutendo Nyahora and Isaac Mpofu will take to the field in the marathon on Sunday when the curtain comes down on the 2024 Paris Games.
Zimbabwe has not won an Olympic medal since 2008 and has come back empty handed from the games in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
Kirsty Coventry has won all but one of Zimbabwe’s eight medals since 1980 when Zimbabwe was admitted to international sport.
Coventry has two gold medals, four silver medals and a bronze from the 2004 Games in Athens and the 2008 Games in Beijing.
The other Olympic medal, a gold, was won by the women’s hockey team at the 1980 Games in Moscow.
The performance by Charamba and Makarau has shown that there could be more coming Zimbabwe’s way.
