By Zim Sport Live Writer
Rising Zimbabwean sprinter Leeford Zuze delivered a standout performance after finishing second behind Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo in the men’s 400m at the Road to Botswana Golden Grand Prix meet held in Gaborone on Saturday.
Tebogo stormed to victory in 44.37 seconds, the second-fastest time this year, while Zuze impressed with a blistering run of 44.91 seconds — a new personal best that saw him dip under the 45-second mark for the first time in his career.
With that performance, Zuze joins an elite group of Zimbabwean 400m sprinters to have broken the 45-second barrier, underlining his emergence as one of the country’s brightest sprint prospects.
Among those in that exclusive club is Lewis Banda, who still holds the national record of 44.58 seconds set in 2004, as well as Talkmore Nyongani, who recorded a personal best of 44.96 seconds in 2005.
There were more encouraging performances for Zimbabwe on the day, with Dennis Hove clocking an impressive 45.00 seconds, while Thandazani Ndlovu posted a personal best of 45.14 seconds.
The strong showing by the Zimbabwean athletes comes just a week after Zuze, Hove, and Ndlovu were part of a record-breaking 4x400m relay team alongside Gerren Muwishi at the Botswana National Stadium.
The quartet set a new national record of 3:00.69, signaling a promising resurgence in Zimbabwe’s 400m ranks.
Zuze’s latest performance not only highlights his individual progress but also points to a bright future for Zimbabwean sprinting on the regional and global stage.