BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
ZIMBABWEAN athletes were the toast of the Texas Christian University (TCU) track and field team at the weekend with Tinotenda Matiyenga breaking the national 200-metre indoor record while Chengetayi Mapaya claimed the triple jump title with the leading mark in the US at the Texas Tech Invitational.
Twenty-one-year-old sprinter Matiyenga, who is a senior at TCU, romped to victory in the 200-m race inside The Sports Performance Centre in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday night in a time of 20,75 seconds to lower his own previous national record of 20,80 seconds which he ran in February last year.
Last year the former Prince Edward School pupil equalled the then long-standing national 200-m indoor record which was set in 1992 by the legendary former Zimbabwe sprinter Fabian Muyaba, who is also based in the US.
Matiyenga was one of the three Zimbabweans at TCU who featured in the 200-m final at the Texas Tech Invitational together with Kundai Maguranyanga who finished third in a time of 20,95 seconds and Simba Maketa (21,46) who finished in eighth position.
In addition to the record breaking performance in the 200m, Matiyenga put up another good show in the 60-m sprint final where he finished fourth in 6,69 seconds.
The 60m national record is jointly held by the duo of Olympians Ngonidzashe Makusha and Gabriel Mvumvure, who are now both athletics coaches in the US.
Matiyenga, a former Zimbabwe rugby youth international is, however, tipped to eventually lower the mark and break more national records as he continues to improve since his move to the US three years ago.
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While Matiyenga stole the show in the sprints, another emerging Zimbabwean star, Mapaya stole the limelight in the field events with another winning performance in the men’s triple jump on Friday evening.
The 22-year-old former St Georges College student, who represented the country at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Qatar, managed a best leap of 16,63 metres to ensure he got his indoor campaign off to an impressive start.
Mapaya’s winning jump of 16,63m is now the collegiate top mark in the US. After their performances this weekend the duo of Matiyenga and Mapaya will be hoping to continue their good start to the year ahead of the outdoor season where they will be seeking to meet the qualifying standards for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games.
Follow Daniel on Twitter @danielnhakaniso
