DOUALA, Cameroon — The Zimbabwe camp at the Africa Senior Athletics Championships has remained optimistic of a powerful finish to the continental showpiece.
This is despite a sad ending to Sunday's activities following a botched baton exchange, with the 4x100m ticket in the final beckoning, as anchor Ngoni Makusha dropped it. It was an energy-sapping incident that had the entire Zimbabwe team engulfed in a cloud of despair.
Coach Pakamile Lisimati remained glued to his seat, not believing what had happened before his eyes.
One of the best sprint teams ever assembled had blown a chance to run in the African Championships final and, besides, a potential ticket to Paris.
Running in lane three of heat three, Dickson Kamungarengemu had a dream start, with second legger Geren Muwishi running a pulsating next leg.
Tapiwanashe Makarawu, running the third, was just a monster, blowing all his opponents for a comfortable baton exchange lead. It would have been up to Makusha to finish with a third sub-10-second leg.
But as fate would have it, the boys appeared to want a place in both the final and Olympics hard, Makusha dropped the baton.
It was all over. The Zimbabwe team whose slogan had been Gotokoto, went quiet in disbelief as a dream was shattered.
Lisimati the Zimbabwe coach said the camp has put that failure by the relay team at the back of their minds.
He said the team still had room to redeem itself in the triple jump.
There is also the 4x400m whose preliminaries are on tonight.
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"I think we have psyched up the athletes to focus on the task at hand. We have spent time with them and body language today (yesterday) looks okay.
"The boys wanted the 4x100m and they appeared on course for a national record and a first place finish and, possibly, a good time for the Olympics. It's tough luck, we move on and hope we at least land medals in the events that are left," said Lisimati.
Yesterday, the athletes did not have an event to participate in, following the hateful 4x100m whose final was yesterday.
They trained at the facility's B Arena and looked in the game.
Morale is high and athletes believe they have acclimatised and recovered from the events they have participated in.
"We have rested and looking forward to the 400m and the relay."
Hopes are high that the athletes will chase national pride restoration and endorse athletics as a sports code deserving of corporate embracing.
