Zimbabwe’s top sprinters Makanakaishe Charamba and Tapiwa Makarawu have qualified for the semi finals of the men’s 200m at the Paris Olympics after they both finished second their respective heats at the Stade de France on Monday night.
Charamba was the first to take to the track in Heat 3 and continued his impressive rise with a second place finish in 20.27.
With the first three finishers from the heat set to progress to the semifinals, the 22-year-old former Hillcrest College pupil, ran a well measured race to qualify from the heat behind Botswana’s Tebogo Letsile, who clocked 20.10 seconds.
Charamba crossed the finish line ahead of Italy’s Filipo Tortu, who came third in 20.29 seconds.
“The feeling is great,” Charamba told Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (Zoc) media in the French capital.
“I didn’t get a good lane, (but) I’m not a person that makes excuses.”
Charamba competed in the heat against Botswana sensation Letsile Tebogo, a 100m silver medalist at the 2023 World Championships.
“Tebogo is a great athlete but I was just focusing on my own race,” said Charamba. “I’m just happy that we’ve been able to put Africa on the map. I’m just going back to the drawing board and talk to my coach and see what happens. I’m just cherishing the moment, having fun and seeing what happens.”
He was soon joined in the men’s 200m semis by fellow Zimbabwean Tapiwanashe Makarawu, who came second in 20:07 seconds.
American Erriyon Knighton came first in the heat 19.99 seconds just ahead of Makarawu, who could afford to ease over the finish line as he finished well ahead of South Africa’s Shaun Maswanganyi, who claimed the last qualifying slot in 20.20 seconds.
After successfully booking their tickets to the semis, the duo will return to the track on Wednesday evening with high hopes of progressing to the final which is scheduled for Thursday evening.