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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S Olympic medal hopeful Chengetayi Mapaya broke the country’s 23-year-old triple jump record at the United States of America’s National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday.

Mapaya broke Ndabezinhle Mdlongwa’s leap of 16,89m, set on March 28, 1998, to set a new one of 16,95m.

Mdlongwa had set the longstanding record at a meet held in Lafayette, USA.

Just like Mdlongwa, Mapaya, who had been threatening the national record, did it in style by coming second in the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships triple jump event.

Mapaya scooped a bronze medal in the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships following his third place finish in the same event as a freshman in 2018 with a jump of 16,38m.

In his congratulatory message to Mapaya, National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) president Tendai Tagara said the athlete’s consistent performances and hard work had helped him achieve this historic feat.

“Mapaya has always been on track to break the national record and last month I said that if he maintains his hard work, he was on course to breaking the long standing national record. It doesn’t come as a surprise that he has done it. Mapaya has been getting top class training and is one of the country’s future medal hopefuls. As Naaz, we congratulate Mapaya for this feat and wish him the best as he continues to scale new heights,” said Tagara. — @ZililoR