Former Zimbabwe Olympic sprinter Gabriel Mvumvure has been named the new sprints and hurdles coach at Washington State University in the US as he continues to make huge strides in his coaching career since his retirement.
The 34-year-old former 100m and 200m specialist moves to Washington State University after a largely successful three-year stint coaching sprints and hurdles at Brown University.
He got his start in coaching as a volunteer assistant coach for Louisiana State University where he was also a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion (2008) and SEC Champion (2008) in the 4X100m relay as a student-athlete.
Mvumvure was a three-time All-American running on the 4X100m relay team and was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) performer. He was also as a three-time winner of the SEC Track Athlete of the Week award and clocked the third fastest time in program history.
Mvumvure also excelled in the classroom at LSU, graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations/ Political Science with three appearances on the LSU academic honour roll.
The former Churchill High school student represented Zimbabwe three times at the World Athletics Championships and in 2016 he achieved one of his ultimate goals of representing the country at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
He also had a successful career on the US collegiate circuit where he was a three-time All-American at Louisiana State University and won an NCAA title as part of the Bayou Bengals’ 4 x 100-meter relay team in 2008.
He jointly holds the Zimbabwe national indoor record for the 60 meters with his compatriot Ngonidzashe Makusha, who is now the head track and field coach at the University of California, Davis. His personal-best time of 9.98 in the 100 meters is the seventh fastest by an African in history.
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