Brian Dzingai (born 29 April 1981) is a former Zimbabwean Olympic sprinter who specializes in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Athlete biography: Brian Dzingai
beijing2008.cn, ret: Aug 29, 2008 He ran to his personal best time of 20.12 seconds in June 2004 in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. This is the current Zimbabwean record.

Education

He is an Old Georgian, and attended

St George's College, Harare St George's College is a private Jesuit boys high school in Harare, Zimbabwe. The school, colloquially referred to as Saints or George's, is located in Borrowdale, a Harare suburb. The land was donated to the Jesuits. This led to the relocation ...

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, Zimbabwe. He attended college at both

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 4,225 enrolled students in the fall of 2021 pursuing degrees in 52 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs. The university is named for U.S. Presiden ...

in Kirksville, MO and

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where he was a member of both track teams. He was also a member of the African Students Association at Truman. Shortly after completing his undergraduate degree at FSU, Brian earned a master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Florida State University.

Career

He finished sixth at the 2006 African Championships and won a bronze medal in 4 × 100 m relay at the

2007 All-Africa Games The 9th All-Africa Games took place between 11 and 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers is the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were held there. Besides Algeria, only Nige ...

. He also competed at the 2003 World Championships, the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and the 2005 World Championships. Dzingai represented

Zimbabwe at the 2008 Summer Olympics Zimbabwe sent a team to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Zimbabwe sent thirteen athletes to Beijing, competing in swimming, athletics, tennis, cycling, triathlon, and rowing.Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

where he was selected as the flag-bearer for the Zimbabwean contingent. He competed in the

and placed first in his first round heat, just in front of

Christian Malcolm Christian Sean Malcolm (born 3 June 1979) is a retired Welsh track and field athlete who specialised in the 200 metres. In 2020 he was appointed Head Coach of the British Athletics Olympic Programme. Early life Malcolm was born and was brought ...

with a time of 20.25 seconds. He improved his time in the second round to 20.23 seconds and won his race again, this time in front of American sprinter,

Walter Dix Walter Dix (born January 31, 1986) is a retired American sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the sixth-fastest 200-meter runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier in the 100 ...

. He ran his semi final race in 20.17 seconds and placed second after

Churandy Martina Churandy Thomas Martina (born 3 July 1984) is a Dutch sprinter from Curaçao, currently representing the Netherlands. Previously, he represented the Netherlands Antilles until its dissolution in 2010. His personal best time over 100 metres ...

, but again before Dix. With his appearance in the Olympic 200 meter final, Dzingai became the most accomplished sprinter in Zimbabwean history. In that race, Usain Bolt shattered the world record, and Dzingai ran a time of 20.22, which placed him unofficially in sixth place. However, due to the disqualifications of Martina (second) and

Wallace Spearmon Wallace Spearmon Jr. (born December 24, 1984, in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America, USA) is a retired American Sprint (running), sprint Track and field, athlete, who specializes in the 200 metres, 200 meters. He is a two-time NCAA ...

(third) he moved up to the fourth place overall, behind Dix and missing out on the bronze medal by 0.24 seconds. Dzingai has been a track and field coach at

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

since 2018.

Achievements

* 4th in 200m Final at the Beijing Olympics. * 5th Round 2, Heat 2 in the 200m at the

. * 6th in 200m at the 2006 African Championships. * 6th in 200m at IAAF Final 2008. * 5th IAAF World Athletics Final 2007. * 11th in

2007 IAAF World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

. * 9 (semi-final)

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

. * 3rd in 4x100 relay at the 2007 All-Africa Games.

Personal bests

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

: 10.19 *

: 20.12

Philanthropy

He is an ambassador for Ndoro Children’s Charity. He is currently working on setting up his own Zimbabwean based charity, the Kushinga Foundation.

References

* *

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dzingai, Brian 1981 births Living people Zimbabwean male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Zimbabwe Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Zimbabwe Sportspeople from Harare Alumni of St. George's College, Harare Florida State Seminoles men's track and field athletes Truman State University alumni African Games bronze medalists for Zimbabwe African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games