Mapaya jumped an impressive 16.87m to take second place at the Africa Senior Championships. Although he missed the Olympic qualification mark, he’s still in the running to qualify through the World Rankings.

In his own words, ““It’s great. I can’t be sad because I got second position on my first one. So definitely happy, I have had second position.

“But that’s not what I wanted. I wanted to win. Now we are playing with fire, I could make it with my world ranking but it’s not the position I want to be in.

“So I have to go back and see what’s necessary and see what the world ranking is looking like.  But I appreciate it because this is my season best. So it shows I am progressing during my season, which is good.

“So I have got to take the positives because if you take the negatives only its not going to go your way.

“So my head is up, the future is bright for sure,” said Mapaya.

Mapaya’s silver medal is Zimbabwe’s first at the championships. He’s staying positive and looking forward to his next challenge.”