Makusha targets Ghana, uses Pretoria meets as springboard

Lovemore Dube Zimpapers Sports Hub,[email protected] NGONI Makusha walked off the White City Stadium track on Saturday knowing the stopwatch, not the cheers, would decide his season. The Zimbabwean sprinter won his 100m heat and anchored the winning 4x100m relay at the Wafawafa Track and Field Championships, then immediately turned his attention to a tougher test ahead, qualification for the African Championships in Ghana later this year. The Bulawayo meeting doubled as a ranking event run by the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz), with athletes graded from one to 10 based strictly on times, distances, and heights recorded on the day.

Those numbers, officials confirmed, will form the backbone of selection for international assignments in 2026. Naaz president Tendai Tagara said the White City meet was only the first filter. More ranking races are scheduled over the next two months as the federation sharpens competition for national places.

Senior national teams coach and director of coaching Phakamile Lisimati said the approach was deliberate after recent seasons in which Zimbabwe struggled to translate domestic promise into continental results. “We have talent, but we need pressure,” Lisimati said. “That’s why these meets matter.

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You earn your lane.”Makusha said the weekend races gave him exactly the kind of pressure he wants. He pointed to the depth in the sprint fields, singling out Methembe Tshuma among the athletes who pushed him in both the individual and relay events. “The competition was stiff,” Makusha said.

“That’s what we need. When you line up against people who want it just as much, it forces you to be sharp.” He said the emergence of younger sprinters was changing the mood inside camps that had grown thin in recent years. “There are a lot of young guys coming through,” he said.

“I just tell them to keep working. This level needs patience.”Makusha’s immediate focus now shifts south. He plans to compete at the Engen Championships in Pretoria on February 21 and 28 meets, he hopes he will deliver qualifying times for Ghana and strengthen Zimbabwe’s bid to field a 4x100m relay team at the World Relays Championships in Botswana.

“My preparation is coming together,” he said. “I’m working on my start, the transition and my finish. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s moving in the right direction.” Naaz was by Sunday still waiting for the full electronic results from HypeNation, the timing service provider at White City.

Officials, however, said the data delay would not affect the integrity of rankings once verified. While local sprinters measure themselves at home and in Pretoria, Zimbabwe’s strongest statement of the season so far has come from across the Atlantic. Triple jumper Chengetai Mapaya opened his 2026 campaign with a world leading indoor mark of 16,85 metres in Norman, United States, a jump that briefly placed Zimbabwe at the top of the global performance lists.

Mapaya is part of a growing cluster of Zimbabwean athletes based in the US, including compatriot Theophilus Mudzengerere, who sits 19th in the indoor triple jump rankings with 16,39 metres. Long jumper Tafadzwa Chikomba is also in the mix, ranked sixth indoors after clearing 8,09 metres as the indoor season nears its close ahead of the outdoor circuit that begins in March.

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