The Sunday Mail
Deputy Sports Editor
WHILE members of Team Zimbabwe for next month’s African Games are yet to be made public, one name that will surely be missing from that list is United States-based speedster Tapiwa Makarawu.
The 23-year-old appears to have taken heed of his management team’s advice and opted out of the Games slated for March 8-24 in Accra, Ghana.
“I was originally supposed to come through and compete at the African Games but the coaching staff here in the US have advised me to skip them and focus on the bigger picture, which are the Olympics,” said Makarawu.
“This is not to say there is anything wrong with the African Games, or that they are not a big competition, but the Olympics are the biggest event in the sport. While I might have come through and run some fast times (at the African Games), it might have affected my form at the Olympics due to burnout or something.”
The athlete, who specialises in the 100-metre and 200-metre races, is currently at the tail end of his indoor season, with his next big assignment being the 2024 NJCA Track and Field Championship, which will coincidentally be held from March 1 to 2 in Florida.
The meet will possibly be his last major indoor event for New Mexico Junior College, as he is set to transfer to Kentucky University later this year.
“I ran a couple of races in January and made some good times, with my best being 22,29 seconds in the 200 metres. My coach then told me to rest and recuperate as the 22,29s was just too fast, and now I have begun my preparations for next month’s indoor championships.
“I am injury-free and so most of my attention is on my schoolwork and training.
“Here in the US, education is very important, especially for student athletes, and I have to make sure I always balance my training with my schoolwork,” he said.
Speaking of the Paris Games, Makarawu appears pretty “chilled”, as he put it, about qualification. He hopes to punch his ticket to France as soon as the outdoor season begins in mid-March.
“I am not even worried about qualification; I am so chilled and composed about the whole thing,” he said. “I know I am going to qualify, especially if no injuries occur between now and the close of the window. The qualifying standard for the Olympics is 20,16 seconds and I ran 20,2 seconds during the indoor season, which is predominately harder to race. I hope to qualify for the Olympics during my first two events of the outdoor season.
“The Olympics are the main target for this year, and I have reached out to both the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee and the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe. We are working together and they have arranged for me to race here in the US and Europe as a means to help qualify and be ready for the Olympic Games.”
