# Makanakaishe Charamba
**Makanakaishe Charamba** (born 2001 in Harare) is a Zimbabwean sprinter who specializes in the 200 meters and competes for [Auburn University](https://www.edgepedia.org/auburn-university) in the United States. He finished eighth in the 200 m final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where he was also Zimbabwe's opening ceremony flagbearer, and he has twice won the NCAA title in the 4x100 meters relay.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/150703) • [2](https://auburntigers.com/sports/xctrack/roster/player/makanakaishe-charamba) His personal best of 19.88 seconds ranks him among the world's leading 200 m runners, with [World Athletics](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-athletics) placing him in the top seven in its men's 200 m rankings in 2026.[3](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/zimbabwe/makanakaishe-charamba-14977636)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 2001, Harare, Zimbabwe[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/150703) |
| 200 m personal best | 19.88 (Cushing Stadium, College Station, TX, 6 June 2026; equaled in Doha, 19 June 2026)[3](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/zimbabwe/makanakaishe-charamba-14977636) • [4](https://www.diamondleague.com/athlete/14977636) |
| Indoor 200 m | 20.13, Zimbabwean national record (27 February 2025)[3](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/zimbabwe/makanakaishe-charamba-14977636) |
| Olympic result | 8th, men's 200 m final, Paris 2024; opening ceremony flagbearer[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/150703) |
| NCAA titles | 4x100 m relay champion 2024 and 2025 (37.97 in 2025)[2](https://auburntigers.com/sports/xctrack/roster/player/makanakaishe-charamba) |
| World Championships | 8th, men's 200 m final, Tokyo 2025[5](https://www.newsday.co.zw/theindependent/topic/makanakaishe-charamba) |
| College | Auburn University; previously Carson-Newman University[2](https://auburntigers.com/sports/xctrack/roster/player/makanakaishe-charamba) • [6](https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/66b3eae9e73a2dcce2133725.pdf) |
## Background
Charamba was born in Harare and, before concentrating on track, played hockey and rugby. He stands 1.91 m (6'3"). He began his American college career at Carson-Newman University, a Division II school, where he ran 20.41 in the 200 m at the 2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships, before transferring to Auburn University in Alabama.[6](https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/66b3eae9e73a2dcce2133725.pdf) • [7](https://www.athletic.net/result/R3iDvvAsDF2rMqqSo)
## College career at Auburn
**Relay success.** Charamba anchored Auburn's 4x100 m relay to NCAA outdoor titles in both 2024 and 2025, the 2025 winning time of 37.97 also standing as his personal best in the event.[2](https://auburntigers.com/sports/xctrack/roster/player/makanakaishe-charamba) In 2024 he was a first-team All-American in the relay, took SEC outdoor silver in the 4x100 m and SEC outdoor bronze in the 200 m.[2](https://auburntigers.com/sports/xctrack/roster/player/makanakaishe-charamba)
**Individual breakthrough in 2025.** The 2025 season made him one of the fastest collegiate 200 m runners in history. On 19 April 2025 he ran 19.99 at the Tom Jones Memorial in [Gainesville, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/gainesville-florida), a world-leading time that season and, at that point, the only sub-20-second performance of the outdoor year.[8](https://auburntigers.com/news/2025/04/19/charamba-captures-200m-world-lead-at-tom-jones-memorial) He took silver in the 200 m at the NCAA Indoor Championships (20.16) and won the SEC indoor 200 m title in 20.13, a Zimbabwean indoor national record set on 27 February 2025.[2](https://auburntigers.com/sports/xctrack/roster/player/makanakaishe-charamba) • [3](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/zimbabwe/makanakaishe-charamba-14977636) Indoors at Auburn he holds the top six 200 m marks on the school's all-time list, from 20.13 down to 20.55.[9](https://storage.googleapis.com/auburn-prod/2026/04/23/fHJ5A179CFgO1ElDQRxjqLlNEkh3zEGHrPA1sxnn.pdf)
## Paris 2024 Olympics
At the Paris Games, Charamba advanced through the heats and semifinals of the 200 m, running 20.27 and 20.31, and reached the final on 8 August 2024, where he finished eighth.[6](https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/66b3eae9e73a2dcce2133725.pdf) • [1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/150703) His compatriot Tapiwanashe Makarawu also made the final, so two Zimbabweans lined up in an Olympic 200 m final won by Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, who became Africa's first Olympic sprint champion; four of the eight finalists were African.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/sports/article/2024/08/09/paris-2024-letsile-tebogo-becomes-africa-s-first-olympic-sprint-champion-in-fierce-200m-final_6711988_9.html) Charamba also served as Zimbabwe's flagbearer at the opening ceremony.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/150703)
## Tokyo 2025 World Championships
Charamba reached the 200 m final at the [World Athletics Championships](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-athletics-championships) in Tokyo in September 2025, running 20.03 in his heat, and finished eighth.[11](https://en.uzathletics.uz/f/worldchamps-resultshandbook.pdf) • [5](https://www.newsday.co.zw/theindependent/topic/makanakaishe-charamba) Together with Makarawu, who also reached the final, he helped the eight-member Zimbabwean squad to a record number of top-10 finishes at a World Championships, though the team came home without a medal.[5](https://www.newsday.co.zw/theindependent/topic/makanakaishe-charamba)
## Diamond League and 2026 season
Charamba has become a regular point-scorer on the Wanda Diamond League circuit. In 2025 he finished third in Monaco in 19.99 and fifth in Brussels.[4](https://www.diamondleague.com/athlete/14977636) His 2026 season brought his fastest legal times: he ran 19.88 in College Station on 6 June 2026 and equaled that mark when taking silver at the Doha Diamond League on 19 June 2026, matching his personal best.[3](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/zimbabwe/makanakaishe-charamba-14977636) • [12](https://zimglobalmedia.co.zw/makanakaishe-charamba-doha-diamond-league-silver-zimbabwe-sprint-star-equals-personal-best-in-world-class-performance/zimgloba/) He then placed third at Eugene (20.11), third at Lausanne (20.14), fourth at Zürich (20.10) and third at Brussels (19.99).[4](https://www.diamondleague.com/athlete/14977636) At the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on 4 July 2026 he took bronze in 20.11 into a 0.9 m/s headwind, behind the 18-year-old American Tate Taylor (19.75) and Olympic champion [Letsile Tebogo](https://www.edgepedia.org/letsile-tebogo) (19.93).[13](https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/charambas-historic-bronze-at-prefontaine-classic/)
In domestic early-season competition he won both the 100 m (10.30 into a -1.2 m/s wind) and the 200 m (20.27) at the Tiger Track Classic in Auburn on 25 April 2026.[14](https://worldathletics.org/competition/calendar-results/results/7239387) He and Makarawu headlined Zimbabwe's team for the 2026 African Athletics Championships in Accra.[15](https://www.athletics.africa/topics/makanakaishe-charamba)
## Progression and standing
Charamba's best times show a steady climb: 19.95 in 2024, 19.92 wind-legal (with a wind-assisted 19.79) in 2025, and 19.88 in 2026.[6](https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/66b3eae9e73a2dcce2133725.pdf) • [3](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/zimbabwe/makanakaishe-charamba-14977636) He also holds a 100 m best of 10.02 wind-aided (10.15 legal) from 2023 and a 60 m indoor best of 6.56 set in [Lubbock, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/lubbock-texas), in 2025.[6](https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/66b3eae9e73a2dcce2133725.pdf) • [16](https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/68c988f8c00ead91697a150c.pdf) He appears in the World Athletics testing pool for 2025, the standard registered group of elite athletes subject to doping control.[17](https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/downloads/pdfs/know-the-process/en/RTP_2025-Q4.pdf)
## References
1. [Makanakaishe Charamba, Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/150703)
2. [Makanakaishe Charamba Season 2024-25, Auburn Tigers Official Athletics Website](https://auburntigers.com/sports/xctrack/roster/player/makanakaishe-charamba)
3. [Makanakaishe CHARAMBA | Profile, World Athletics](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/zimbabwe/makanakaishe-charamba-14977636)
4. [Makanakaishe CHARAMBA, Wanda Diamond League](https://www.diamondleague.com/athlete/14977636)
5. [Topic: Makanakaishe Charamba, The Zimbabwe Independent](https://www.newsday.co.zw/theindependent/topic/makanakaishe-charamba)
6. [Men's 200 Metres Final, 08.08.2024, Paris 2024, World Athletics results document](https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/66b3eae9e73a2dcce2133725.pdf)
7. [Makanakaishe Charamba 19.79, NCAA East First Round, athletic.net](https://www.athletic.net/result/R3iDvvAsDF2rMqqSo)
8. [Charamba captures 200m world lead at Tom Jones Memorial, Auburn Tigers](https://auburntigers.com/news/2025/04/19/charamba-captures-200m-world-lead-at-tom-jones-memorial)
9. [2026 Men's Indoor Meet Results, Auburn University](https://storage.googleapis.com/auburn-prod/2026/04/23/fHJ5A179CFgO1ElDQRxjqLlNEkh3zEGHrPA1sxnn.pdf)
10. [Paris 2024: Letsile Tebogo becomes Africa's first Olympic sprint champion, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/sports/article/2024/08/09/paris-2024-letsile-tebogo-becomes-africa-s-first-olympic-sprint-champion-in-fierce-200m-final_6711988_9.html)
11. [World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 results handbook](https://en.uzathletics.uz/f/worldchamps-resultshandbook.pdf)
12. [Makanakaishe Charamba Doha Diamond League Silver, Zim Global Media](https://zimglobalmedia.co.zw/makanakaishe-charamba-doha-diamond-league-silver-zimbabwe-sprint-star-equals-personal-best-in-world-class-performance/zimgloba/)
13. [Charamba's historic bronze at Prefontaine Classic, Herald](https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/charambas-historic-bronze-at-prefontaine-classic/)
14. [Tiger Track Classic results, World Athletics](https://worldathletics.org/competition/calendar-results/results/7239387)
15. [Makarawu and Charamba headline Team Zimbabwe for African Athletics Championships Accra 2026, Athletics Africa](https://www.athletics.africa/topics/makanakaishe-charamba)
16. [Men's 200 Metres Round 1 Heat 5 startlist, Tokyo 2025, World Athletics](https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/68c988f8c00ead91697a150c.pdf)
17. [World Athletics Testing Pool 2025 Q4, Athletics Integrity Unit](https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/downloads/pdfs/know-the-process/en/RTP_2025-Q4.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Athletics, gymnastics, and strength sports › Athletes of track and field and road running › Sprinters and hurdlers › Short sprinters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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