Top Zimbabwe athlete Ngonidzashe Makusha set the stage alight in Sweden after setting a new 100m course record in 10,11 seconds at the Karlstad Grand Prix at the Tingvalla IP stadium on Tuesday evening.
The 24-year-old track and field star led home a quartet of Jamaicans with Jacques Harvey coming second in 10,30secs while Dexter Lee a former junior world champion from 2008 and 2010 took third in 10,36secs.
Another Jamaican Kenroy Anderson was fourth in 10,41 secs and his compatriot Winston Barnes, fifth in 10,48secs.
Although Makusha’s time was nowhere near his personal best of 9,89 secs he prevailed despite the low temperatures in the Scandinavian nation and a high-quality line-up lowering the previous course record of 10,26secs set by Saudi Arabian sprinter Salem Al Yami.
Yami is a former World Junior Championships silver medallist in the 100m.
Makusha’s time was also better than the 10,16secs he ran at the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend when he came second behind Jamaican Asafa Powell (9,86 secs).
Speaking to the local media, Zimbabwe’s national record holder in the 100m and the long jump event said he was delighted with the win.
“It was a very good race and I felt I did my own thing. I cannot complain about anything. Sure it was a shame I could not run a little faster, but it was still a good time,” said Makusha in an interview with a Swedish publication Varmlands Folkbald.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
On setting a new course record Makusha said: “Yes, I heard it was a course record and it’s always fun to be in history books.”
Makusha who is currently on a four-year athletics scholarship at Florida State University, has hit good form at the right time and later this month he will represent the country at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea He turned professional early this year after setting the athletics scene in the US alight this year with his burst of speed in both track and field events.
He broke the national collegiate record in the 100m with a winning time of 9,89 seconds which was also the fastest time in NCAA history and the second dominant performance of the meet for Makusha, who won the long jump in 8,40m — the best mark at the NCAA meet in 18 years.
Makusha also added a third national title as a member of the 4x100m relay team to cap off what was described as one of the most remarkable performances in college track and field history in the US.
Zimbabwe’s 200m specialist Brian Dzingai who also took part at the Sweden meet finished third in a time of 20,75secs.
Jamaican Rasheed Dwyer won the race in 20,54secs ahead of his countryman Kenroy Anderson (20,59secs).
