Story by Lawrence Trusida, Sports Editor
THE Zimbabwe Olympic Committee is satisfied with the performance of Team Zimbabwe at the just-ended 2024 Olympic Games.
This was reviewed by Team Zimbabwe’s Chef de Mission, Ringisai Mapondera after his return from Paris.
Zimbabwe sent seven athletes to the 2024 Paris Games and had decent performances despite not being able to win medals.
Sprinters Makanakaishe Charamba and Tapiwanashe Makarawu, who are being earmarked for the 2028 Olympics, reached the finals of this year’s 200m event.
Long-distance runner, Isaac Mpofu finished a commendable 19th in the Marathon, while rower Stephen Cox finished the games 25th overall.
Swimmer Denilson Cyprianos and Paige van der Westhuizen were eliminated in the first round, while Rutendo Nyahora did not finish the women’s marathon after suffering an injury along the way.
Mapondera, who was head of Team Zimbabwe and is also a Zimbabwe Olympic Committee board member, was happy with the performance of the team.
“We need to put things into perspective. Yes, it is good to go to any competition and win medals, but we need to be realistic of where we are coming from. I think as a country, we are proud of the sprinters we put in two athletes in the final that was a massive achievement. The only other country to have two or more was the USA, then you look at Isaac Mpofu, how he did on the marathon and Stephen Cox in the rowing.
“We did well, we just need to build upon this performance. Already, we were looking at Makarawu and Charamba for LA28 but already, they have shown their class, we need to start preparing for the next games and national associations should try to ensure that more athletes qualify,” said Mapondera.
Zimbabwe with seven athletes had two making it to the finals while a marathoner was in the top 20, other countries fared even worse.
South Africa sent in 149 athletes and managed six medals, Egypt with 148 competitors brought back three medals, Africa’s most populous country Nigeria had 88 athletes who all failed to win a single medal, while Zambia with 27 athletes returned with a bronze medal.
Elsewhere, Kenya were the best-performing African country in Paris, winning four gold medals, while Algeria had two golds with South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Tunisia managing a single gold medal each.
