NewsHawks 27 August 2021

NewsHawks International Olympic Committee Sport people at that club in South Africa Page 51
Athletes’ Commission. trained with a champion. They saw form four,” Ziyambi said. “In our
Issue 45, 27 August 2021 bwe player Kevin Curran).  how he eats, how he trains, nutrition year group we competed against the
“Kirsty was there to watch that “I was laughing during the (Crick- and stuff like that. Imagine if Kirsty mighty Falcon side which had the
From Page 52 event (when Daley won gold),” Zi- was still competing. Our young likes of Streak, Craig Wishart and
“I think with all medals, it is the yambi said. “The first call I got was et) World Cup when England had swimmer who was in Japan (Dona- Richard Godden. Richard was quick-
story behind,” Ziyambi explained. from her and she was jumping saying the Currans and New Zealand had ta Katai) would have benefited from er than Streak. Streak was pacey, but
“Tom is a household name in Britain. ‘I’m here, I’m here!’. She was telling Colin de Grandhomme (ex-Zimba- being in that training environment. he mastered swing more, he had
He was young in his first Olympics. all the British journalists sitting be- bwe youth international). It was like The business of medals is a science. great control of the ball. I remem-
He became a world champion at 15. low her that the medal was made in an old boys’ reunion. They learnt all If we put things in place now, we can ber Mark Stannard was bowled for a
He kind of endeared himself to the Zimbabwe!” their skills here, but then put into guarantee medals in eight years.” golden duck by Streak. Paul Mitchell
public. His father running into the systems that developed them, in created a stand of 64 for us. I faced
Press conference, singing (…laughs)! Helping Great Britain’s divers environments where you don’t have More opportunities will likely Streak and I hit him over extra-cover
Tom was so embarrassed, like a typi- strike gold in Tokyo is the pinnacle to worry about where the next meal come Ziyambi’s way overseas, but for four. They pushed the field away
cal teenager in such a situation. of Ziyambi’s sports science career in is going to come from. The Black he will always be ready to share his a bit. He (Streak) then pitched one
Imagine your father running into elite sport to date. It is an achieve- brothers (Zimbabwean tennis greats knowledge in Zimbabwe whenever on leg-stump, trying to swing back. I
a Press conference and singing happi- ment he is immensely proud of, and Byron and Wayne) stayed next to needed.  tried to clear long-on, I gave him an
ly after you’ve won! Sadly, his father he is grateful to have been afforded us when we were young, we used to easy wicket.”
was diagnosed with brain cancer, the opportunity by the country’s hear them play tennis in the morn- “I have been in conversation with
and he passed on. But Tom’s quest to Olympics federation.  ing. Then they went to university in Kirsty,” he said. “Kirsty will know Away from school, Ziyambi played
become an Olympic champion was the States, where the emphasis was best how I can be utilised.” club hockey for Old Georgians and
well-known. It was kind of fulfill- But Bulawayo-born Ziyambi is sports science. Same as Kirsty, Brian then Old Hararians, a sport that
ment of a life-long dream.” also extremely proud of his roots, al- Dzingai, Ngoni Makusha. I mean, Three years ago, Ziyambi travelled would have taken him to the Olym-
Quite remarkably, while Zim- though a bit frustrated that his coun- they even have a little stature of Ngo- to Zimbabwe as a guest lecturer in pics had Zimbabwe qualified.
babwe’s small team of five returned try of birth has not totally realised ni at the Florida State University. He the sports science department of the
empty-handed from Tokyo, Ziyambi its fullest potential in sport despite won the Bowman Award. This is fan- National University of Science and Ziyambi’s best chance of being an
was not the only person with links a surplus of talent across the nation. tastic! One of the top athletes in the Technology (Nust), on an American Olympian was perhaps in track-and-
to the African country behind Great United States!” government-funded programme.  He field, and as a schoolboy he was very
Britain’s triumphant divers. Head “The major difference with Zim- has also “reached out” to his alma competitive against some of Zimba-
coach Jane Figueiredo, recruited by babwe and other nations that are do- Ziyambi has seen it all at the mater, the University of Zimbabwe, bwe’s best runners. 
the Britons from the University of ing well is that in Zim we have no Olympics and knows what it takes he says. 
Houston in the United States, grew problem with talent,” said Ziyambi. to nurture a medallist. Zimbabwe’s “My favourite was 400m, but my
up Zimbabwe and learnt her diving approach is not the right one at the Returning to his hometown Hara- best distance was 800m,” he said.
from the legendary Anthea Stewart.   “Talent is abundant in schools. In moment, and that needs to be recti- re, which he does nearly every year, “Those days I competed against Phi-
“She (Figueiredo) was born in Ma- other countries, like Britain, they are fied now. brings back many good memories of lemon Harineki. In the 1 500m in
lawi, raised in Zimbabwe, and went putting up adverts inviting people to Ziyambi’s sport-laden younger days. 1990, he broke a long-standing re-
to Girls High in Harare,” said Zi- try out new sports and possibly go “It starts with ambitions,” Ziyam- cord. It had stood since 1974, and
yambi. “She initially dived for Zim- to the Olympics. Whereas in Zim, bi said. “We have to think about Cricket, which Ziyambi also it was held by John Calderwood,
babwe, but she competed for Portu- you just go to school. Our schools Brisbane in 2028. 2024 (in Paris) played at first-team level at St who years later became the headmas-
gal at the 1984 Olympics because her compete in a variety of sports, where is too soon. You have to ask, ‘to win George’s, is another sport he thor- ter of Hartmann House. He was an
father was born in Portugal. She was you get to improve hand-eye coor- medals, what does it take?’ Sports oughly enjoyed, in a big way due to absolute legend, Phil. He was quite
head of diving programmes at Hous- dination, being part of a team. We medicine and sports science must be the fun-filled coaching of develop- something. And then I also compet-
ton University and had lots of suc- have unique schools, the talent in taught here, not when people go to ment stalwart Bill Flower, father of ed against Ken Harnden (two-time
cess in the early 2000s.” schools is frightening. At some point university abroad. It must be local- Zimbabwe greats Andy and Grant.  Zimbabwean Olympian).”
The African connection in the we were able to compete with South ised, based on our population. The
backroom staff of Great Britain’s div- Africa until Under-18 level. Look last thing, we need to compete lo- Ziyambi particularly remembers a The son of retired Zimbabwean
ing team was a source of great pride at how many sports people we have cally and then send the athletes off match against a star-studded Falcon Supreme Court judge Vernanda Zi-
for the continent’s greatest Olym- exported. We really have so many internationally.” College team spearhead by Heath yambi, the well-respected physio-
pian, Kirsty Coventry, who was in sports that we excel at: rugby, foot- Streak, later to become a revered therapist credits his family upbring-
Tokyo in her capacity as Zimbabwe’s ball and others. Just look at the Cur- South Africa is an example. Zimbabwe captain and for a long ing for giving him the platform to
Sports minister as well as head of the ran brothers (England cricketers Sam Wade Van Nierkerk (400m world time the country’s only world-class succeed in the ever-evolving field of
and Tom, sons of late former Zimba- and Olympics record-holder) lived bowler.   sports science and high-performance. 
and trained in South Africa. All the
“I played a lot of cricket until

There is a future.

ZIMBABWE
CHILDREN’S CANCER RELIEF

EARLY
DETECTION

IS THE BEST PROTECTION!

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ENOCK MUCHINJO tourists under reviewthe area of sports science and

IF years ago, a much younger Story on Page 3 Story on Page 8 medicine, which is also used
Gareth Ziyambi had dreamt
of an Olympic Games gold as a training centre by some of
medal, he would have woken reacthe country’s top sports stars.
up the next morning tipping Chamisa When physios at the Shef-
himself to be the one winning field-based centre were asked
it someday, with the national to specialise in one code, the
anthem of his native Zim- name of Ziyambi’s fellow
babwe providing a perfect countryman and old school-
soundtrack to the crowning Khupemate, Evan Stewart, was
moment.  out to thrown into the discussion,
probably marking the begin-
Life, however, does not ning of his association with
always follow a predictable diving. 
path. Ziyambi has been to the “In 2008, we were asked to
Olympics, but not as an ath- align with a particular sport.
lete, and he has contributed to Unofficial president calls for emergeI was a bit resistant because I
gold medal success, for a dif- didn’t want to be tied down,”
ferent country. Ziyambi, who is now 47, con-
tinued. 
The University of Zim- “Then somebody said, ‘oh
babwe-trained physiother- yeah, Zim had a world cham-
apist of Great Britain’s gold pion in diving before!’ I was
medal-winning divers at the embarrassed to say ‘I was at
recent Tokyo Olympics was school with him’. So I was
more likely to participate at like ‘world champion, okay!’.
the iconic games as a hockey It’s (diving) a sport I didn’t
player – his foremost sporting know about, but I wanted a
code growing up back home challenge. So I became head
– or as an 400 metres or 800 of diving before I left in 2010
metres runner. The Olympics for private practice.”
had always been a dream des- All in all, Ziyambi has been
tination for Ziyambi since his to the Olympics five times as
teenage years as a schoolboy a team physio. He was in Ath-
sporting hero in Zimbabwe.  ens with Zimbabwe in 2004,
before going to Beijing with
When Ziyambi was in his the African country in 2008
final year at St George’s Col- after he had moved to the
lege in Harare, three people UK. Then he has worked with
from the renowned boys’ Great Britain’s divers in Lon-
school – two students and a don in 2012 and Rio de Ja-
teacher – represented Zim- neiro in 2016 before the most
babwe at the 1992 Olympic recent edition in the Japanese
Games in Barcelona. capital.
Tokyo was not the first
The most prominent of time Ziyambi has been part of
the three was Evan Stewart, Olympic medal success with
a diver later to achieve world his adopted country. 
champion status. Then there That edition however
was swimmer Ivor Le Roux Gareth Ziyambi. stands out because of the vic-
and a young teacher called
Sally-Ann McDonald, who affair with the Olympics. to coach tennis as well. Re- foregone conclusion that he gold-medallists in women’s tory of British diving super-
was Zimbabwe’s number one “It inspired me to say I also saplleycinalicewhlAaednLy.SthOIte wItNeaasSmpIDrewtEtays would win.” field hockey at the 1980 Mos- fusfnitradsrtsTOolmymDpZiaclisemyg,o'wlsdhlmoatewedosanlt. lhaisnd
women’s tennis player. FinThaencSeteMwairntistfaymwilyipehsasoutco$w3.O2lyBmilpliiocsn, adndepmoosthiteor orsf c
want to go to the Olympics
All three returned from the one day,” Ziyambi, who is announced at assembly. Three particularly been influential the diver Evan. The 27-year-old from
Spanish city medal-less, but vacationing back home in Ha- Olympians from one school in Ziyambi’s sporting ca- After Ziyambi left for the Plymouth, who became a
just going to the Olympics rare, told The NewsHawks this was pretty stupendous. Evan reer. At Hartmann House, St United Kingdom in 2004, world champion at the age of
created life-long role models week.  was a great diver and as for George’s preparatory school, he successfully applied for a 15 in 2009, has a background
in the minds of boys and staff Ivor, he was a monster in the he was coached in hockey by job as a physiotherapist at the that easily makes him a firm
alike at the 1896-established “She (McDonald) was a pool. He would start behind none other than Anthea Stew- highly regarded English Insti- favourite of many. 
Jesuit school. For Ziyambi, it well-respected teacher, she others. By the end, it was a art, captain of Zimbabwe’s tute of Sports, a big name in To page 51
was the beginning of his love taught Geography. She used

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