Sprinter who raced Olympic champion Tebogo crowned Zim’s finest sports star

BY SPORTSCAST WRITER

HARARE – Zimbabwean sprinter Tapiwanashe Makarawu, who competed in the final of the 2024 Olympic Games 200m race alongside champion Letsile Tebogo, was on Sunday crowned his country’s Sportsperson of the Year following a memorable season.

The 24-year-old runner came sixth in Paris in a 200m race spectacularly won by Botswana’s Tebogo.

In the same year, Makawaru also won the silver medal at the African Senior Championships in Cameroon.

Based in the United States on a university scholarship at New Mexico Junior College, Makarawu also recorded decent times in competitive meets across the country on the US circuit.

In his honour, following his Olympics final appearance, an American city – Hobbs in New Mexico – declared 3 September 2024 Tapiwa Makarawu Day.

Two Zimbabwean sprinters qualified for that 200m final in Paris, with Makarawu being joined by compatriot and friend Mananakaishe Charamba. Both runners were in contention for the award of their country’s finest sports star of the past year, whose who was unveiled at a glitzy ceremony in the capital city Harare on Sunday night.

Other notable winners included the national rugby team, which was voted Team of the Year after winning the Africa Cup title last year. The team’s coach, Piet Benade, was crowned Coach of the Year.