BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
SPRINTER Ngoni Makusha’s journey at the Tokyo Olympics ended in disappointing fashion after he finished 7th in heat 6 of the men’s 100m race in a disappointing time of 10.43 seconds yesterday.
Mukusha failed to live up to his earlier promise when he came first in the preliminary round early in the day in a time of 10.32 seconds which helped him qualify for the next round of heats.
Hopes were high that the 27-year-old sprinter would better his preliminary round time and possibly his personal best of 10:17 seconds to sneak into the semis of the competition.
But it was not to be.
Makusha is one of the five athletes representing the country at the Tokyo Olympic Games including swimmers Donata Katai and Peter Wetzlar as well as rower Peter Purcell-Gilpin and golfer Scott Vincent.
However, Makusha became the fourth Zimbabwean to exit the global games leaving Vincent to battle it out for a medal in the Olympic men’s golf competition which concludes today.
In his heat, Makusha was pitted against South Africa’s sprint sensation Akani Simbine, who finished fifth at the Rio Olympics five years ago and is the African 100m record holder.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Simbine coasted to victory in 10:08 seconds ahead of fellow African Arthur Cisse from Ivory Coast who romped home in 10:15 seconds.
There were two more Africans in the heats including Liberian Emmanuel Matadi who finished fifth in 10:25 seconds while Togolese Fabrice Dabla was disqualified for a false start.
Dabla’s disqualification seemed to have played on Makusha’s mind as he was late off the blocks and failed to recover, creating his own race at the back with Canadian Bismark Boateng who he beat on the line.
Canadian Andre de Grasse was the fastest man in the heats with a time of 9:91 while silver medalist at the 2012 Olympic Games in London Yohan Blake ran 10:06 in heat 7 for a second place finish.
The semi-finals and the final for the 100m competition are scheduled for today
