Paris-Olympic Games-bound Zimbabwean sprint ace Makanakaishe Charamba’s memorable season in the US just keeps getting better.
Barely a few weeks after booking his ticket to this year’s Paris Olympic Games, Charamba led the Auburn University men’s track and field team to a memorable first-ever gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Friday.
The 22-year-old rising star anchored the Aurbun relay team as they raced to the third-fastest time ever in the event, crossing in 38.03 seconds.
Charamba and the trio of Azeem Fahmi, Kanyinsola Ajayi and Dario Matau ran a flawless race to claim gold by 18 one-hundredths of a second over second place Louisina State University (LSU).
It was the men’s first national title in any event since Cory Martin won the shot put and hammer in 2008.
Charamba, who anchored Auburn’s national champion relay team turned around 90 minutes later to finish fifth in the men’s 200m dash in 20.16.
The junior’s finish was the best by an Tiger sprinter in the 200 since Auburn legend and Olympian Harvey Glance was fourth in 1978.