By Simon Ngena
THE XXXIII Olympic Games have come and gone.
Records were broken; new stars were born while the aging stars of yesteryear were consigned to the dustbin of history.
Zimbabwe was represented at the Paris Games by a contingent of seven athletes, whose stand-out performers turned out to be sprinters Tadiwanashe Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba, who made history by becoming the first Zimbabweans to reach the finals of the 200-metre race.
Their achievement in reaching the final of the 200-metre race, eventually won by Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, has been on almost everyone’s lips, with many praising them for raising the country’s flag high.
Despite missing out on the medals, with Makarawu securing sixth place and Charamba finishing eighth, their impressive performance caught the eye of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who wrote on his Facebook page:
“My heartfelt congratulations to our remarkable sprinters Tadiwanashe Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba for placing sixth and eighth in the finals of the 200 metres race at the Paris Olympics.
Their achievements are a testament to the resilience, determination and unwavering spirit that define Zimbabwe. They have made our nation proud.
Let us celebrate their dedication and continue to support our athletes as they represent us on the global stage.”
For this writer, the remarkable performances by Tadiwanashe Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba evoke memories of the legendary Artwell Mandaza, who, at his peak, was arguably the greatest sprinter ever to emerge from Zimbabwe.
A gentle giant on and off the track as well as a fierce competitor and tremendous athlete, the record-breaking sprinter was a sportsman par excellence. A man who could have certainly given Jamaica’s Usain Bolt a good run for his money if the two had been born around the same time.
I first heard of the name Artwell Mandaza when I was in primary school at Mutanda Primary, Sakubva, in Mutare, where I was in the school athletics team running in the 100 metres, 200 metres and relay races.
The ‘Mhangura Meteor’, as Mandaza was affectionately known, rose to fame in 1970 when he ran a world-record equalling time of 9,9 seconds in the 100 metres at the South African Bantu Championships in Welkom.
Although not recognised officially, that time was the world’s fastest along that of Cuba’s Pablo Montes.
The late Mandaza hogged the limelight in the 1970s as the first African sprinter to clock an incredible 9,9 seconds over 100 metres with a following wind of 4,27 metres per second, well above wind the permissible two metres per second, gaining himself an 11th position in the world of fastest sprinters.
However, the official best time attached to the Zimbabwean in the 100 metres was 10,2 seconds, which qualified him as the fastest athlete in the world in the same year.
The ‘Mhangura Meteor’ was voted the Sportsman-of-the-Year in 1970, becoming the first black person to win the honour ahead of a strong multi-racial field of sportspersons from elite disciplines, such as rugby, cricket, cycling and rowing, among others. This is the same year he broke the 100-metre, 200-metre and 400-metre records.
Like many journalists and athletics fans have said, his only ‘sin’ was probably being born in Rhodesia, and reaching his peak at a time when the British colony was banned from international sport. He missed out on the 1972, 1976 Olympics and by the time Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980, he was well past his prime.
He was a typical sportsman who inspired legions of youths during both the colonial era and after Zimbabwe independence. His name was a talk of every young athlete in schools and social clubs.
After independence and with Zimbabwe eyeing the world Olympics in 1984, Mandaza was selected to take part in a fund-raising event for the benefit of the Zimbabwe Olympics team.
The event was unique in more ways than one. First, it was held at the home of racing — Borrowdale Racecourse, and not the multi-purpose National Sports Stadium.
Secondly, the ‘Mhangura Meteor’ was already in retirement and had virtually run out of competition. So the stage was set for what was billed the ‘racing event of the year’ — a race pitting Zimbabwe’s fastest man against the country’s leading thoroughbred racehorse, Hi Chester.
As a lifelong fan of Mandaza and former sprinter myself, I made it a point to be at Borrowdale Park that sunny Saturday afternoon to witness first-hand how Zimbabwe’s one-time fastest sprinter would fare against the horse of the moment over 100 metres. It was a mismatch. But it was worth the spectacle. Hi Chester took his starting position at the 100-metre mark while Artwell Mandaza took his at the 60-metre peg.
‘On your marks, get set’ . . . followed by the starter’s gun. In a flash it was all over. I can’t even remember how many seconds it lasted, but it was a moment to savour and cherish.
The man known as the ‘Mhangura Meteor’ might have come off second best against his four-legged opponent, but that did not diminish his iconic status. For, he was a true sportsman whose talent touched the lives of many coaches, students and administrators (past and present).
More importantly, he was a sportsperson par excellence whose death on Monday, October 21 2019 left a chasm in the lives of all those who loved him and adored him.
Then SRC director-general Prince Mupazviriho led mourners with the following tribute:
“Artwell, though he was retired, was one of the first inductees of Zimbabwe National Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 alongside such other illustrious athletes like (Five-time Soccer Star-of-the-Year) George ‘Mastermind’ Shaya, (golfer) Nick Price and (cricketer) Dave Houghton, among others.
The Chiweshe-born sprinter retired from active sporting as a coach and administrator in 2013 when his health began to fail him. However, he continued to be visible in the province and was never to miss an event in Mashonaland Central.
His lifelong dream was to set up an academy under the auspices of his proposed Mandaza Foundation and had acquired land next to his rural home for this noble project. Unfortunately, and much to his disappointment, the people he approached for assistance — including top politicians — let him down.
As someone inducted into the Zimbabwe Sports Hall of Fame, my humble wish would have been to see the Zimbabwe flag flying at half-mast in his honour and his body resting in peace at the Mashonaland Central Provincial Heroes’ acre.
He certainly deserved it.
