An Upper six student at Tynwald high School Runako Kundishora has already made a name for herself in the Gymnastics world, with a trophy cabinet bursting with international medals.
Kundishora's impressive journey began at age 10 when she joined the Rhythmic Gymnastics Club at Borrowdale Primary School and her rapid progress and dedication soon earned her a spot in the Zimbabwe gymnastics national team.
In 2018, Kundishora participated in the Region V competitions in South Africa, securing a bronze medal in the ball routine and a silver medal for the level six team.
Her success continued in 2019 with two bronze medals at Region V competitions in Pretoria.
Kundishora’s career on the international stage took her to Australia for the World Gymnaestrada in 2019 and later to Brazil for advanced training, fully funded by the Brazilian Gymnastics Federation.
At just 18 years the athlete has also been to Europe, in 2022 where she represented Zimbabwe at the World Gymnaestrada in the Netherlands.
Recently, Kundishora dominated the Zimbabwe Rhythmic Gymnastics Competitions, winning five gold medals in the senior level categories.
She reflected on how her journey in the sport began.
“l started doing gymnastics just for the fun of it and l really wanted to try new things. After a few weeks l quit. I found it challenging and difficult to adjust to the changes but something drew me back. A few months later l joined again this time with a different objective to find myself. When l am doing gymnastics l feel like l can truly be myself without being judged in any way,” she revealed.
“l have found peace and myself through doing what l love. I thought l would never be able to do any sports after I suffered a leg injury but l pushed through and l just kept telling myself that l am strong and l can do anything if l set my mind to it. And that keeps me going till now.”
The big dream for the teenage athlete is to compete at the Olympics one day.
“I would like to someday go and compete at the Olympics. Winning would be another thing but my first step is to get there and prove to people that one bad situation can change your life yes, but that doesn't mean you can't change the path of your life. l would also like to empower kids to follow their dreams no matter how unrealistic they may seem and to never give up,” she said.
While she has made it look all easy, Kundishora reckons that gymnastics is a difficult sport and requires a lot of sponsorship, which she lacks at the moment.
“Well gymnastics is not an easy sport at all especially with the fact that l started late. This year I was supposed to go for the Africa championships but I couldn't because l hadn't done enough competition especially during the Covid-19 period," she said.
"And funding can be a bit difficult especially when I'm traveling back and forth with the country situation in our country. It has been very difficult to get funding for the trips and the equipment needed to prepare for international competitions.”
A multitalented athlete, Kundishora also excels in hockey, basketball, swimming and dancing at her school.
In December Runako is participating in the Region 5 Gymnastics competition to be hosted in the country.