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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
PARTICIPATING in the Olympic Games is the ultimate goal for most athletes, with those making it to the global sports showcase cherishing the moment for the rest of their lives.

Making it to the Olympics is a dream come true for 26-year-old Zimbabwean sprinter Ngoni Makusha, whose qualification for next month’s Tokyo Olympics came via the universality ticket.

Makusha is one of five athletes that will represent the country at the Olympics. The other four are the swimming duo of Donata Katai and Peter Wetzlar, rower Peter Purcell-Gilpin and golfer Scott Vincent.

Even though his qualification came via the back door, that hasn’t dampened Makusha’s spirit as he is determined to have the best time in Tokyo.

Under the universality rule, National Olympics Committees (NOC) may enter one male athlete and one female athlete, regardless of time, if they have no athletes of that gender meeting the entry standard.

“It’s an honour to represent my country and I’m happy that I get to be part of the Olympic team as the only track athlete. I feel like I have to produce a good performance there,” said Makusha.

“I would have loved to qualify through clocking the qualifying time, but it hasn’t been an easy road, but I’m still glad I got the slot and definitely have to make use of it.”

Makusha, who shares the same name and surname with Olympian Ngoni Makusha, who missed a bronze medal in the long jump event by a whisker at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, is targeting to run a personal best in Tokyo.

“I have to make it to the next round and see what happens. It’s my first time being at the Olympics so I don’t want to go with so much expectation, but I’m definitely going to give it my all and try and run a personal best,” said the ecstatic sprinter.

With a personal best of 10,17 seconds in the 100m dash and 20,49 seconds in 200m, Makusha will only compete in the men’s 100m at the Games.

Inspired by Brian Dzingai, who regularly gives the sprinter words of encouragement, Makusha says he started working towards the Olympic Games five years ago.

To be in best shape before heading to Tokyo, the sprinter had to shift base to South Africa for top-class training, as there were no sporting activities in Zimbabwe due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Moving to South Africa was costly for the athlete, as the allowance received from the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) and the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) couldn’t cover most of his expenses.

However, that didn’t deter Makusha, who kept working hard for qualification, and backed by Naaz, he was rewarded with the universality slot.

He is disappointed that the Zimbabwe senior men’s relay team failed to make it for the Olympics.

“Going to South Africa helped me a lot because being there meant all I had to do was concentrate on my training, which is what an athlete needs. There were tough times, but I’m back home to complete my preparation for the Olympics.

“It has been hard finding competitions because of Covid-19 lockdowns. It was a big challenge for all athletes.

“The most disappointing thing is that our relay team didn’t make it even though we had been training hard with the hope of getting competitions. As a team, we really wanted to achieve qualification, but now we just have to stay positive and hope we can make it for the World Championships next year,” he said.

Makusha, who did his primary education at St Aidans and proceeded to Harare High School, challenged up-and-coming athletes to pursue their dreams and work hard.

“I would like to say to the youngsters, never stop dreaming, nothing is impossible. Patience, discipline and perseverance will take you places. I’m really thankful to everyone that has supported me all the way and never gave up on me; I’m grateful,” Makusha said.