Zimbabwe at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Zimbabwe competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's tenth consecutive appearance at the Olympics, after gaining its independence from the former Rhodesia.

Zimbabwe at the 2016 Summer Olympics
IOC code	ZIM
NOC	Zimbabwe Olympic Committee
Website	www.zoc.co.zw
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors	31 in 7 sports
Flag bearer	Kirsty Coventry[1]
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1928 1932–1956 1960 1964 1968–1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Other related appearances
Rhodesia (1928-1964)

The Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) fielded a team of 31 athletes, 9 men and 22 women, to compete in seven different sports at the Games.[2][3] It was the nation's largest ever delegation sent to the Olympics in a non-boycotting edition and the second-largest overall in history, a stark contrast to the seven athletes who attended the London Games four years earlier. Among the sports represented by the nation's athletes, Zimbabwe marked its Olympic debut in equestrian eventing and women's football, as well as its return to archery after nearly three decades.

Topping the list of athletes to make the Zimbabwean roster was swimmer Kirsty Coventry. At 32 years old and headed to her fifth Olympic Games, Coventry emerged herself as Zimbabwe's most decorated Olympian of all time, and Africa's most successful female swimmer in history, with a total of seven medals, including two golds in the women's 200 m backstroke. Because of her outstanding achievements in swimming, Coventry was chosen again to carry the Zimbabwean flag at the opening ceremony for the second consecutive Games.[1][4]

Apart from Coventry, the Zimbabwean team also saw four more athletes competing in more than one edition. Among the returnees were single sculls rower Micheen Thornycroft, marathon runner Wirimai Juwawo, along with his teammate and three-time Olympian Cuthbert Nyasango, and double trap shooter Sean Nicholson, the oldest member of the team (aged 42).[3]

For the second Olympics in a row, Zimbabwe left Rio de Janeiro without a single medal.[5] Before retiring from the sport, Coventry capped off her illustrious Olympic career with a sixth-place finish in the women's 200 m backstroke, the most successful outcome for Zimbabwe at the Games.[6]

Archery

One Zimbabwean archer qualified for the men's individual recurve by obtaining one of the three Olympic places available from the 2016 African Archery Championships in Windhoek, Namibia, anticipating the nation's Olympic return to the sport for the first time since 1988.[7]

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Score	Seed	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Gavin Sutherland	Men's individual	566	64	Kim W-j (KOR) L 0–6	Did not advance

Athletics (track and field)

Zimbabwean athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):[8][9]

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Gabriel Mvumvure	Men's 100 m	Bye		10.28	7	Did not advance
Tatenda Tsumba	Men's 200 m	21.04	6	N/A		Did not advance
Wirimai Juwawo	Men's marathon	N/A						DNF
Pardon Ndhlovu		N/A						2:17:48	41
Cuthbert Nyasango		N/A						2:18:58	58
Rutendo Nyahora	Women's marathon	N/A						2:47:32	92

Key

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round
• NM = No mark

Equestrian

Zimbabwe has entered one eventing rider into the Olympic equestrian competition by virtue of a top finish from Africa & Middle East in the individual FEI Olympic rankings. This signified the nation's Olympic debut in the sport of equestrian.[10]

Eventing

Athlete	Horse	Event	Dressage		Cross-country			Jumping						Total
								Qualifier			Final
			Penalties	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Rank
Camilla Kruger	Biarritz	Individual	59.40	61	40.40	99.80	32	12.00	111.80	35	Did not advance			111.80	35

Football

Women's tournament

Zimbabwe women's football team qualified for the Olympics by winning the fourth round play-off of the 2015 CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.[11]

Team roster

The following is the Zimbabwe squad in the women's football tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The team of 18 players was officially named on 22 July 2016.[12]

Head coach: Shadreck Mlauzi

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Chido Dringirai	25 October 1991 (aged 24)	0	0	Flame Lily Queens F.C.
2	DF	Lynett Mutokuto	1 September 1988 (aged 27)	0	0	Black Rhinos F.C.
3	DF	Shiela Makoto	14 January 1990 (aged 26)	0	0	Blue Swallows Queens F.C.
4	DF	Nobuhle Majika	9 May 1991 (aged 25)	0	0	Inline Academy F.C.
5	MF	Emmalulate Msipa	7 June 1992 (aged 24)	0	0	Black Rhinos F.C.
6	MF	Talent Mandaza	11 December 1985 (aged 30)	0	0	Black Rhinos F.C.
7	FW	Rudo Neshamba (c)	10 February 1992 (aged 24)	0	0	Weerams F.C.
8	MF	Rejoice Kapfumvuti	18 November 1991 (aged 24)	0	0	Inline Academy F.C.
9	FW	Samkelisiwe Zulu	14 April 1990 (aged 26)	0	0	Flame Lily Queens F.C.
10	MF	Mavis Chirandu	15 January 1995 (aged 21)	0	0	Weerams F.C.
11	MF	Daisy Kaitano	20 September 1993 (aged 22)	0	0	Black Rhinos F.C.
12	MF	Marjory Nyaumwe	10 July 1987 (aged 29)	0	0	Flame Lily Queens F.C.
13	FW	Erina Jeke	16 September 1990 (aged 25)	0	0	Flame Lily Queens F.C.
14	DF	Eunice Chibanda	26 March 1993 (aged 23)	0	0	Black Rhinos F.C.
15	FW	Rutendo Makore	30 September 1992 (aged 23)	0	0	Black Rhinos F.C.
16	GK	Lindiwe Magwede	1 December 1991 (aged 24)	0	0	Cyclone Stars F.C.
17	FW	Kudakwashe Basopo	18 July 1990 (aged 26)	0	0	Black Rhinos F.C.
18	FW	Felistas Muzongondi	22 March 1986 (aged 30)	0	0	Mwenezana F.C.

Group play

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Canada	3	3	0	0	7	2	+5	9	Quarter-finals
2	Germany	3	1	1	1	9	5	+4	4
3	Australia	3	1	1	1	8	5	+3	4
4	Zimbabwe	3	0	0	3	3	15	−12	0

Source: Rio2016 & FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

3 August 2016

18:00

Zimbabwe	1–6	Germany
Basopo  50'	Report (Rio2016) Report (FIFA)	Däbritz  22' Popp  36' Behringer  53', 78' Leupolz  83' Chibanda  90' (o.g.)

Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Attendance: 20,521[13]

Referee: Rita Gani (Malaysia)

---

6 August 2016

15:00

Canada	3–1	Zimbabwe
Beckie  7', 35' Sinclair  19' (pen.)	Report (Rio2016) Report (FIFA)	Chirandu  86'

Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Attendance: 30,295[14]

Referee: Olga Miranda (Paraguay)

---

9 August 2016

16:00

Australia	6–1	Zimbabwe
De Vanna  2' Polkinghorne  15' Kennedy  37' Simon  50' Heyman  55', 66'	Report (Rio2016) Report (FIFA)	Msipa  90+1'

Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Attendance: 5,115[15]

Referee: Esther Staubli (Switzerland)

Rowing

Zimbabwe has qualified one boat each in both the men's and women's single sculls for the Games at the 2015 African Continental Qualification Regatta in Tunis, Tunisia.[16]

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Andrew Peebles	Men's single sculls	7:25.39	5 R	7:17.19	3 SE/F	Bye		7:45.20	1 FE	7:43.98	25
Micheen Thornycroft	Women's single sculls	8:18.88	2 QF	Bye		7:34.38	2 SA/B	8:00.53	5 FB	7:30.57	11

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Shooting

Zimbabwe has qualified one shooter in the men's double trap by securing one of the available Olympic berths at the 2015 African Continental Championships in Cairo, Egypt.[17][18]

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Semifinal		Final
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Sean Nicholson	Men's double trap	119	19	Did not advance

Swimming

Zimbabwean swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):[19][20]

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Sean Gunn	Men's 100 m freestyle	50.87	48	Did not advance
Kirsty Coventry	Women's 100 m backstroke	1:00.13	11 Q	1:00.26	11	Did not advance
	Women's 200 m backstroke	2:08.91	9 Q	2:08.83	6 Q	2:08.80	6

References

1. "Kirsty Coventry to Carry Zimbabwe's Flag for Second Straight Games". Swimming World Magazine. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
2. Taderera, Tawanda (17 July 2016). "Zim assembles second largest Olympics team". Zimbabwe: The Standard. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
3. "Team Zim announced". Zimbabwe: The Herald. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
4. Mhlanga-Nyahuye, Marvellous (2 August 2016). "Gold Medalist Swimmer Kirsty Coventry Selected As Zimbabwe Flag Bearer". Zimbabwe: Voice of Africa. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
5. "Zimbabwe: We Simply Failed". Zimbabwe: The Herald. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
6. "Coventry caps Olympic career with 6th-place finish". Zimbabwe: The Standard. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
7. "Egypt Qualifies 2 at Rio 2016 African Qualification Tournament". World Archery Federation. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
8. "iaaf.org – Top Lists". IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
9. "IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – Rio 2016 Entry Standards" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
10. "Six nations make Olympic and Paralympic débuts at Rio 2016 equestrian events". FEI. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
11. Neshamba, Rudo (18 October 2015). "Zimbabwe and South Africa qualify for women's Olympic football". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
12. "Zimbabwe Mighty Warriors Rio 2016 Olympics Team Lineup, Football Matches Dates..Pictures". ZimNews. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
13. "Match Report: ZIM vs GER" (PDF). Rio 2016 Official Website. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
14. "Match Report: CAM vs ZIM" (PDF). Rio 2016 Official Website. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
15. "Match Report: AUS vs ZIM" (PDF). Rio 2016 Official Website. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
16. Chitsiga, Takudzwa (8 October 2015). "Rowers qualify for Rio". Zimbabwe: The Herald. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
17. "Quota Places by Nation and Number". www.issf-sports.org/. ISSF. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
18. Nkhaniso, Daniel (5 December 2015). "Zim get Olympic berth in shooting". Zimbabwe: NewsDay. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
19. "Swimming World Rankings". FINA. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
20. "Rio 2016 – FINA Swimming Qualification System" (PDF). Rio 2016. FINA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.

External links

• [ZIM/summer/2016/ Zimbabwe at the 2016 Summer Olympics] at SR/Olympics