Carlie Makarawu Places 6th in the 200m at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Former NMJC T&F Olympian Tapiwanashe (Carlie) Makarawu placed sixth in the 200m Finals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Makarawu crossed the line in 20.10 as Botswana's Letsile Tebogo took home gold in the 200m with an African record time of 19.46. The duo are now the top-2 sprinters in all of Africa with their performance Thursday night.
"Overall it was a great race, seeing my fellow African brother (Letsile Tebogo) winning gold made me so happy and motivated me to know that it is possible," Makarawu said. "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE with God."
The American trio of sprinters finished second, third, and fourth with Kenny Bednarek running a 19.62, Noah Lyles finishing in 19.70, and Erriyon Knighton the odd man out of a medal in fourth place with a 19.99.
Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic came in fifth with a time of 20.02. Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia was across the line in 20.15 for seventh place. Makarawu's countryman Makanakaishe Charamba of Zimbabwe placed eighth overall with a time of 20.53.
"So basically running the finals at this big stage is so pressurizing and stressful but to my surprise, I ran the best relaxed race of my entire life," Makarawu said. "I didn't treat that final as a final but I treated it as a normal race and I think that really helped."
Makarawu was originally assigned Lane 3 when the draw for the finals was announced. Following a protest by Kenny Bednarek, lane assignments were switched, which caused Makarawu's lane to go from Lane 3 to Lane 2. The Lane 2 designation is the least favorable position on the entire track.
The 23-year rolled with the punches and got off to another strong start off the blocks with the quickest reaction time of any athlete in the final at .137 seconds. Makarawu made the turn in the final 100m by himself in sixth place as his teammate Charamaba in Lane 3 drifted to the back of the race.
Makarawu had a large amount of ground to make up to compete with the fourth and fifth place runners and was able to track down Ogando and Knighton to pull even with 35m to go in the race. Knighton found his stride at the end to finish in fourth for the second consecutive time at the Olympics and Ogando snuck in front of Makarawu in fifth place with an extra burst the last 15m of the final.
"Coming out of that curve I was in the mix with the rest of the athletes but I wasted my energy running and that's the disadvantage of running in the inside lane," Makarawu said. "I believe if I was in the middle lanes with those other guys I was going to shock the world but it is what is, God had other plans."
Charamba and Makarawu are the first Zimbabwean sprinters to race in the 200m Final in the country's 44-year history. The finish by Makarawu is now the highest finish ever at the Olympic Games for a Zimbabwean 200m sprinter.
Makarawu is just the second T-Bird to compete in a final at an Olympic event and the first to accomplish the feat in the 200m. The 200m sixth-place finish is the second-highest finish in school history behind Guy Abrahams who placed fifth overall in the 100m dash for Team Panama in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.
Carlie Makarawu finished up his career at New Mexico Junior in the spring of 2024 as a seven-time champion and two-time team champion. Makarawu's next move will be joining the University of Kentucky's T&F team this fall to continue his academic and athletic career with the Wildcats this fall.