Ellina Mhlanga in PARIS, France
ZIMBABWE sprint king Tapiwanashe Makarawu is excited and confident of the ground he has covered ahead of his debut appearance at the Olympic Games.
Makarawu will take to the track tomorrow at the Stade de France to compete in the men’s 200m event.
Together with countryman Makanakaishe Charamba, Makarawu qualified for the 200m competition and both are participating at their maiden Olympics.
Makarawu and Charamba flew to Europe early as part of their final preparations, going to Belgium and Switzerland for some races before they undertook a week-long camp in Germany.
Prior to his arrival in France, Makarawu was training together with Charamba under the guidance of coach and Zimbabwe athletics legend Kenneth Harnden.
Makarawu has since met up with his coach Henry Tabarie in Paris.
And he is pleased with the progress he has made as he polished up his preparations.
His last race was on July 16 in Switzerland.
“I ran in Switzerland on Tuesday the 16th of July and I came first in my heat. It was a B heat because I wanted to run in the 400m but they couldn’t enter me in the 400m,” Makarawu said.
“I ended up being entered in the 200m, in the B race. I came first in the B race with a time of 20.24s.
“It was a good time because it had a headwind, which was negative 1.6, so, I think it was a good time for me since I ran at the African Senior Championships, I ran 20.5, so comparing those times I think I improved a bit.
“And then from Switzerland we went to Germany for a one-week camp and then we started training there, me, coach Ken (Kenneth Harnden), Maka and other Nigerian guys who will be participating at the Olympics.”
Makarawu has not taken his foot off the pedal.
“And then from there I came early here in the Olympic Village to meet my coach, coach Henry, so that we can continue with our workouts, continue with our programme that we started while we were at school at NMJC (New Mexico Junior College, in the United States).
“So that’s the routine. And since I came here, I am seeing a lot of improvements since my coach knows me and my weaknesses and what he needs to do with me when my times are poor,” he said.
Makarawu is upbeat about his chances after expressing satisfaction with the shift he has put in.
“I am seeing a lot of improvements from since I was running in Germany and since I was training here, and from the training that I had with him, he is impressed with the improvement that I am having for the meantime. We will see how it goes on Monday (tomorrow),” he said.
At the Paris Games, there will be a repechage round for all individual track events from 200m to 1 500m, including hurdles events.
According to the international federation, in the new repechage format, athletes who do not qualify by
place in round one heats will have a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals by participating in repechage
heats.
This will replace the former system of athletes advancing through fastest times, in addition to top placings in the first round heats.
The US-based Makarawu, a national 200m record holder, is excited about competing in his first Olympics.
He qualified with an impressive time of 19.93 seconds. The qualifying time was 20.16 seconds.
“I am excited to be here honestly, like it has been a dream to be here at the Olympics. It’s every athlete’s dream to be at the Olympics and I am so excited to be here representing Zimbabwe at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“And my coach said to me, ‘It’s your first Olympics, don’t put pressure on yourself, just go out there, have fun, and see how it goes’, ” said Makarawu.
