Bernard Dzoma was a Rhodesian/Zimbabwean Athlete, born October 1941, died 11th April 2019. He gained qualification at Harare(Salisbury) Technical college as a Carpenter and Joiner. He worked for Rothmans tobacco company, then Rio Tinto Group, (Cam and Motor mine). He was the first Rhodesian to break 30 minutes in the 10,000 metre race. Running in the 1960s and 1970s, Dzoma was selected to compete for

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(today Zimbabwe) in that country's 1968 and 1972 Olympic teams . This team was refused entry permits to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

for political reasons, and Rhodesia was banned from the Olympic Games until 1980. Dzoma's running at this time, along with fellow Zimbabwean athlete,

Mathias Kanda Mirimi Mathias Kanda (2 June 1942 – 30 October 2009) was a track and field athlete who competed for Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) in the 1964 Summer Olympic men's marathon, finishing 51st and running 2:41.09 in the marathon. He was then selected ...

, are detailed by his Australian coach's book: ''A Wilderness of Spite'' by

John Cheffers Dr. John Theodore Francis Cheffers (13 May 1936 in Melbourne, Australia – 28 October 2012) was the second Director of the Australian Institute of Sport. He succeeded Don Talbot as AIS Director in 1984 and stayed in the role until 1986. Ronald ...

. Andrew Novak has a treatise on Rhodesian participation in the Olympic which also mentions Dzoma. After the personal disappointment of not being able to run in the 1968 Olympic Games, Dzoma continued to train on his own and was selected to run in the 1972 Munich Games. He was in Munich for the Games, however, again, the Rhodesian team was not allowed to compete. Dzoma then became a coach and coached three Zimbabwean marathoners at the 1985 Hiroshima World Marathon Championships. After this Dzoma married and had six children. He worked as a Joiner and later as a Rio Tinto employee. Bernard died on 11 April 2019 after a long illness. A comprehensive listing of Dzoma's track times and more biographical information is available online.

References

* https://www.pindula.co.zw/Bernard_Dzoma * https://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/1970/RESULTS/Rhodesian-T+F-Annual.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Dzoma, Bernard 1941 births Living people Sportspeople from Mutare Rhodesian athletes Zimbabwean male long-distance runners