United STATES-based Zimbabwean sprinter Tapiwanashe Makarawu has revealed his desire to win a medal at the 2028 Olympic Games slated for Los Angeles.
Makarawu, who reached the 200m final and finished a commendable six place at the global games in Paris last year, has already begun preparations for the Los Angeles 2028.
The 24-year-old athlete was one of the two Zimbabweans athletes who reached the final in the 200m race along with Makanakaishe Charamba, who finished eighth.
It was the first time Zimbabwe will be represented in the men’s 200m final at the Olympics since Brian Dzingai achieved the feat at the Beijing Games in 2008.
And the achievement has made Makarawu believe that he can actually win an Olympic medal.
"That’s my target (to participate at the next Olympics). I started training in September for the 2028 Olympics. I’m trying to get that medal," Makarawu told Peer, a Salvation Army magazine that addresses topics such as faith, community and culture.
"Right now, I’m at the University of Kentucky. I’m studying sports psychology. I’m pursuing my degree at the same time as pursuing my career in athletics. We’ll see how it goes. But as I see from now on, maybe next year or in two years’ time, I might go pro and then start running with any shoe company that signs me. From there onwards, I’ll continue pursuing my journey to get a medal in 2028," he revealed.
Makarawu reflected on his athletics journey which culminated in his appearance in the Olympics final.
"It was quite a long journey for sure. It was my dream to run at the Olympics since I started running track when I was still in high school. I tried to qualify for the Tokyo games in 2021, but I couldn’t qualify. But I finally made it to the Paris 2024 Olympics due to qualification time that I made around 19.93 seconds, which was my personal best and my national record when I was at Texas Tech University for another track meet. So that’s how I made it to the Olympics. And it was quite a journey. It took hard training and dedication, prayer and commitment," he said.
The sprinter also revealed his inspiration in athletics while he reflected on what keeps him motivated.
"My biggest inspiration is Letsile Tebogo from Botswana, who won the 200 metre race. And Muzala Samukonga, from Zambia, he won bronze medal in the 400 meters at the Olympics. And most importantly, my role model, Usain Bolt — he really motivates me. I always watched videos of him running back in the day. I watched his story, how he became the world champion. He motivates me a lot.
"One thing is looking back where I come from, looking at how I grew up, because I wasn’t a fortunate kid that grew up in a family that had everything. We had to struggle to get some things. Sometimes it would be so tough that you can see, even as a child, that things are tough for you. But at the end of the day, you can see that this was good.
"Those are some of the things that motivate me each and every day to wake up and go to training, to wake up and go to class every day, knowing that I have family back home that I need to take care of. I have something that I have to give back to my community and give back to my church for everything that they did in my life to get me where I am today," Makarawu said.
It was a memorable year for Makarawu in 2024 after he qualified for his maiden global games competition and also broke the national record in the process.