The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema
Deputy Sports Editor
COACH David Tinago found himself on the outside looking in as Zimbabwe’s 4×100 relay team tried to make a name for themselves at last year’s World Athletics Relays in Japan.
The 32-year-old was the biggest casualty of some stringent cost-cutting measures.
He was, therefore, forced to monitor his athletes on the internet like the rest of us.
Having broken a 12-year-old national record on their way to qualifying for the championships in Japan, the Zimbabwe team of Dickson Kamungeremu, Tatenda Tsumba, Itayi Vambe and Ngoni Makusha sadly failed to ride on their momentum into the meet as they were disqualified at the starting line.
When asked about the disqualification and his failure to travel to Japan, Tinago tersely noted: “It is what it is!
“We just have to take whatever positives we can derive from qualifying, not to mention the invaluable experience the boys got from being among some of the top runners in the world, and we move on.”
That, in a nutshell, is the story of Tinago, a man gifted with seeing the bright side of even the darkest of situations.
While Covid-19 has literally disrupted all spheres of life, with over 41 million infections and one million deaths globally, Tinago somehow views it as a blessing in disguise from “a strictly professional point of view”.
“The year 2020 has been a weird year, what with the pandemic, but it has challenged our resolve as humans.
“I would like to think that it has made us stronger and taught us more about ourselves.
“Professionally, it has been a blessing in disguise.
“We were gunning for the Olympics, but we were not yet there in terms of preparedness and peak conditioning.
“The fact that the Games were postponed has given us more time to train, improve on our weaknesses and we now have more time to get ready for the qualifiers and the Games themselves,” he said.
Such unbridled optimism has served him well.
It started at a very young age when Tinago viewed himself as a natural athlete.
Although he loved sprints, he also tried his luck in football, rugby and swimming.
“When I was at school I tried my luck at so many sports, with swimming, rugby, football and athletics (being) my favourites.
“I even dabbled in a little tennis and volleyball, but athletics was my favourite,” he said.
Stretching himself thin would come to bite him, an injury sustained from rugby ruined his time on the field and a promising athletics career.
It is at that time, soon after breaking a Southern Region 400-metre record (47.86 seconds), that he decided to venture into coaching.
“My rugby and athletics careers have always been connected, as rugby was a fall-back when my athletics career seemed to be going nowhere.
“Unfortunately, I injured my wrist just before I had the nationals and Youth Championships in South Africa in 2005.
“I did make it to the World Youth Championships, but because of a combination of the injury and a small bout of food poisoning, I did not make my mark.”
Soon after the championships, Tinago ventured into coaching.
Some of the country’s budding and most promising runners have come through his hands.
Top of that list is the younger Ngonidzashe Makusha, Vambe, Tino Matiyenga, who is now based at Texas Christian University in the United States, Tsumba, Tinashe Mutanga, Buhle Geza and Yvonne Thomas.
Coaching has been a lifesaver for Tinago, who was once one of the most promising young athletes in the region.
“There is no better joy than seeing a kid learn, grow and fulfil their potential,” he said. Playing my role as a coach, either teaching or perfecting his or her technique, is a blessing in itself.
“I not only share their joy, but their pain and disappointment, as some of my worst moments have been seeing a kid either fail to achieve their goals or go down with an injury.”
Tinago’s ambition now is to play his part in growing local athletics.
“I look forward to the future and hope to play my part in taking Zimbabwean athletics to the next level.
“I am still young and have a lot to learn and teach, but it has been hard.
“Athletics in Zimbabwe is always playing catch-up to sports like football, rugby and cricket. The job doesn’t pay as much as other coaching gigs out there, the infrastructure is still lagging behind, but there is so much talent to be harnessed.
“Hopefully, the day will come when things improve and we have podium finishes on big stages like the Olympics and World Championships.
“The talent is there,” Tinago said.
