The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema
Deputy Sports Editor
CHENGETAYI MAPAYA’S Olympic dream went up in smoke on Friday night when the triple jumper suffered an injury that will sideline him for weeks.
He had been one of Zimbabwe’s hopefuls to qualify for the 2020 Games set for Tokyo next month.
The Texas Christian University College student pulled his hamstring during the NCAA national championships, which began on Friday.
He was hoping to use the championships to secure the Olympic qualifying standard, and with the deadline set for June 29, Mapaya is unlikely to have recovered on time.
Although he could not be contacted for comment, he posted on his WhatsApp status a video clip of the moment that ended his dream of completing a fairy tale.
“God gives his battles to his strongest Warriors,’’ read the caption on the video clip.
In August 2019, the athlete was part of a small Team Zimbabwe contingent at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, but didn’t beat his personal best on his debut at the competition.
His compatriot Ngoni Makusha, however, still has a chance to fight for his place at the Olympics.
The short-distance specialist has been handed a lifeline in his bid to make the grade for Team Zimbabwe for the Games after Athletics South Africa announced at least five races between now and the June 29 qualification deadline.
As one of a handful of Olympic hopefuls, he was amongst those left gutted by the cancellation of the 2021 African Championships that were scheduled for June 23 to June 27 in Lagos, Nigeria.
“The cancellation of the African Championships came as a huge disappointment to me, if I am to be really honest.
“I have been looking forward to participating at the meet (African Championships) for such a long time and we have been working hard with the coaches preparing for it.
“It was going to be my final chance to qualify for the Olympics, something I have been working towards and looking forward to for many years,” Makusha said.
The Covid-19 pandemic is understood to be the main cause for the cancellation, leaving the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee with a thin group for the Games.
At the moment, Zimbabwe has only secured three slots in swimming and rowing, while golfer Scott Vincent has a realistic chance of adding his name to the group.
The qualification will be based on the world ranking as of June 21, with the top 60 players booking a ticket to Japan in each of the men and women’s events.
The top 15 players of each gender will qualify, with a limit of four golfers per country that can qualify this way.
Vincent is currently ranked 54.
But ZOC have refused to press the panic button.
“I am a realist and I do not see the need to press any panic buttons,” said ZOC chief executive Stephen Mudawarima.
“Yes, the cancellation of the African Championships was a huge blow, but we still have time, however little, to add more names to those we already have,” he said.
The National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe are hoping that the foreign contingent will make the most of the available time and opportunities to secure qualification.
For Makusha, he has three of the five events lined up by Athletics South Africa to use as a platform for his last-ditch efforts at qualifying.
Among those are league meetings that run until June 19, the KZNA Middle Distance Meeting and the Central North West Open.
“It has been great,” said the 100 and 200 metres runner of his time at the High Performance Centre.
“I have learnt a lot of things and improved in many ways.
“I would have definitely been a contender for a medal at the African Championships.
“Sadly, that has changed and now I have to shift my focus to the few races coming up,’’ he said.
