ZIMBABWE’S athletics legend, Artwell Mandaza has died. He was 73.
Mandaza died in Mazowe on Monday after years of declining health.
A colossal figure in the sport who once held records in the 100, 200, 400m and relays including long jump, Mandaza had been ill for some time. His ailment took him out of the public glare, and in recent years disaster would strike with him losing his wife in 2015.
Durai, Mandaza’s son confirmed that his father had died in the early hours of Monday morning.
Funeral arrangements are yet to be announced as information is still reaching family.
The former sprinter became the first black athlete to win the coveted Sportsperson of the Year Award in 1970, after the country was in unison that he deserved the gong ahead of a strong multi-racial field of sports persons from across the racial divide.
Mandaza, a charismatic athlete whose sin was probably being born to this country and reaching his peak, at a time when Rhodesia was banned from international sport missed out on the 1972, 1976 Olympics and when Zimbabwe gained Independence he was past his prime.
A man of many milestones, Mandaza became the first man in the world to run a sub 10 seconds 100m in Welkom, South Africa in 1970. A plethora of issues were raised about his time, but many believe it was because of the colour of his skin that his 9, 90 seconds did not pass for a world record.
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