Team Zimbabwe take to the waters

Zimpapers Sports Hub

IT has been a rather eventful 48 hours for Zimbabwe sport both in Paris and around the world.

The 2024 Olympics officially opened on Friday night amid a spectacular ceremony in Paris, with thousands of athletes, including Team Zimbabwe, sailing on Seine River past lively performers on bridges, banks and rooftops.

When it then got down to competition business, Zimbabwe’s first participant at the Games, Stephen Cox, yesterday took to the waters and finished a commendable fourth in the Men’s Single Sculls heat race.

There was also an exciting moment for the country when Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Minister Kirsty Coventry, herself an Olympian and International Olympic Committee board member, was yesterday named among Africa’s Greatest Athletes of the 21st century by the American television sports cable channel, ESPN.

The Paris Olympics swapped a stadium for a waterway for the first time to open the “greatest sporting show on Earth”, the nearly four-hour spectacle that culminated in French judo great Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-Jose Perec lighting a cauldron shaped like a hot air balloon, which rose high into the Parisian sky.

Blue, white and red fireworks had raised the Tricolore above Austerlitz Bridge before 6 800 athletes from 205 delegations travelled on 85 boats and barges past some of the French capital’s most famous landmarks.

There were surprise performances during the ceremony, including a cabaret number from United States singer-songwriter Lady Gaga, as well as an emotional return of Canadian icon Celine Dion.

The lashing rain may have forced athletes to add rain ponchos and umbrellas to their planned outfits, but it did not detract them from the lively journey through French history, art and sport, told by some 2 000 musicians, dancers and other artistes.

Zimbabwe’s flag bearers were the duo of US-based sprinter Tapiwanashe Makarawu and swimmer Paige van der Westhuizen.

Rower Cox then got the ball rolling as the 32-year-old finished fourth and narrowly missed out of advancing in the Men’s Single Scull heats, romping home with a time of seven minutes and 11,98 seconds.

Oliver Zeidler of Germany took first place, while Uruguay’s Bruno Cetraro and his compatriot Reidy Cardona Blanco finished second and third, respectively.

Cox is set to return to the water again today.

“Steve Cox represented Team Zimbabwe in the Men’s Single Sculls heat at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, marking our team’s first competition at the Games,” said Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) marketing and communication officer ChidoLisa Manuwa.

“Steve finished a strong fourth place, showing great determination and skill, battling it out with a Cuban rower down the course. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s (today) Repechage, where Steve will get another chance to advance.

“We are eager to see him back in the water. Notably, the race will feature three African countries — Angola, Tunisia and Zimbabwe — making it a significant moment for African rowing.”

While Cox is expected back in the water today, the duo of swimmers Paige van der Westhuizen and Denilson Cyprianos will be in action on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Westhuizen is set to compete in the women’s 100m freestyle, while Cyprianos competes in the men’s 200m backstroke the following

day.

The duo of Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba are set to take part in the heats of the men’s 200-metre race on Monday next week.

Meanwhile, Coventry was named fourth of the ESPN Africa’s Greatest Athletes of the 21st century, beating football legends like Cote d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba, Mohammed Salah and Yaya Toure.

Coventry is Africa’s most decorated Olympian, with seven medals across five Games.

She made her Olympic debut at the 2000 games while still in high school, and went on to compete until the 2016 Games in Rio.

During that time span, she won all but one of Zimbabwe’s Olympic medals to date, and is equal with the United States’ Katie Ledecky for the most individual swimming medals by a woman, at seven.

Athens 2004 was the highlight of her career as she won three medals, including gold in the 200m backstroke.