Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
IN an exclusive interview prior to the 2024 Olympics, former Hillcrest College speed merchant, Makanakaishe Charamba, told Post Sport that he will be in Paris, France just to have fun.
Indeed, there can never be anything as more exciting as becoming the first Zimbabwean to reach the Olympic 200m sprint finals, together with his compatriot, Tapiwanashe Makarawu.
“At Paris 2024, I will be there just to enjoy myself, and let everything take care of itself. I do not like putting pressure on myself by setting expectations. I just like having fun and living in the moment,” said the 22-year-old a day before leaving his USA base for Paris.
Charamba and Makarawu secured their places in the finals, coming third in their respective heats, with the next fastest two times.
Just like in the first-round heats, the first on the track was Charamba, in semi-final Heat Two, and running in lane four. He gave a very good account of himself, finishing third in 20.31 seconds.
In an interview with our sister paper, The Herald in Paris, Charamba reiterated that he is in Paris to enjoy himself.
“The aim of coming here was just to enjoy myself like I said before. I am not setting expectations for myself, I am just going to try to go there and have fun.
“So, I went out there, had fun, and we ended up making it to the finals, Tapiwa and me. We can now call ourselves the history makers because at the end of the day, people never expected two Zimbabweans to be in the finals.”
“It is a great feeling because the last time Zimbabwe, if I am not mistaken, had a person who was an Olympic finalist in athletics, it was Brian Dzingai, who is also my mentor. So, I listen to him. So, by listening to him, I managed to make the Olympic finals, and it is just a great feeling for me, him, and Tapiwa,” he said.
On Dzingai’s role, Charamba said: “I will probably say it was very pivotal because it was him (Dzingai), and coach, Ken (Harnden) who shaped me to be what I am. Ken is my coach right now in Auburn. He is a Zimbabwean. They all played a big role, and brought me into the system. I trusted the system, and I am now an Olympic finalist,” said Charamba.
The heat was won by Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo in 19.96 seconds.
United States favourite, Noah Lyles came second in 20.08s.
Makarawu had another good performance with a good start off the blocks, and negotiating his way on the curve to remain among the leading pack, and he finished third in 20.16s.
