Paris, France — Zimbabwe's pair of Tapiwanashe Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba begin their quest at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games today when they compete in the men's 200m round one heats at the Stade de France.
The heats are scheduled for 7:55pm.
Makarawu and Charamba earned their slots at the Games when running the qualifying times during the qualification period.
Charamba qualified with a time of 20.00 seconds, beating the 20.16 seconds qualifying time. His personal best is 19.95 seconds.
Makarawu ran 19.93 seconds to earn his place at the Games, setting a new national record in the process. It's also his personal best.
The two sprinters are making their maiden appearance at the quadrennial show-piece.
Charamba will be the first in action, in heat three where he is up against some of the top contenders such as Letsile Tebogo of Botswana. South Africa's Benjamin Richardson is also in the same heat.
Makarawu is in heat five where he faces the likes of USA's Erriyon Knighton, who slightly missed out on medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when finishing fourth.
But as he makes his maiden Olympics appearance, Makarawu is not reading much into his opponents.
"I am just going to have fun, me and my coach discussed this already. I am just going to have fun with the other guys and just run my race because I had a long season.
"I have been running since January, now it's like eight months whilst I am still running, so whatever outcome I am going to have tomorrow it is what it is. But I am just going to have fun."
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There are six heats and the first three in each heat advance to the semi-finals. All others go for the repechage round.
In the new repechage format, athletes who do not qualify by place in round one heats will have a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals by participating in repechage heats.
This replaces the former system of athletes advancing through the fastest times in addition to top placings in the first-round heats.
"But if I make it to the semis, I am trying by all means to avoid the repechage round because I don't want to overload my body so that I can be good and fresh for the semi-finals.
"Those guys are really fast to be honest. Everyone knows that. But I am not looking at them because I know I am not going to match their level right now because it's the reality.
"I am not being negative or something but it's reality . . . But it is what it is, I am just going to have fun with them.
"I know my body is in shape. I know physically I am in shape and I am just going to be out there mentally fit and go out there and execute my race, and have fun with the other guys," said Makarawu.
The repechage round is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and the semi-finals are on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, marathon runners Rutendo Nyahora and Isaac Mpofu arrived in France yesterday ahead of their events scheduled for the weekend.
Mpofu will represent the country in the men's marathon on August 10 and Nyahora will be the last Zimbabwean athlete in competition with the women's marathon taking place on August 11.
