Ngonidzashe Makusha

Ngonidzashe Makusha (born 11 March 1987) is a Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper. He is the national record holder over 100 m and long jump for Zimbabwe with 9.89 s (+1.3 m/s) and 8.40 m (0.0 m/s), respectively.

In 2011, Makusha was named the men's winner of The Bowerman which is awarded to the top collegiate track & field athlete of the year.

Early career Makusha started his athletics career at Mandedza High School in Seke, Zimbabwe. In July 2006 at the Zone Six Youth Games in Windhoek, Namibia, Makusha achieved results of 7.87 metres in the long jump, 14.90 metres in the triple jump, 10.64 seconds in the 100 metres and 21.57 seconds in the 200 metres. The next month he entered in both long jump and the 100 metres at the 2006 World Junior Championships. In the 100 metres, he reached the semi-final, where he was knocked out with a time of 10.84 seconds. He reached the final in the long jump event, but finished twelfth and last.

The next year Makusha competed at the 2007 All-Africa Games, where he won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay, together with his teammates Gabriel Mvumvure, Brian Dzingai and Lewis Banda. He also competed in long jump and 100 metres, achieving 7.69 metres and 10.52 seconds in the two events. He quickly improved his long jumping, and won bronze in the event at the 2008 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville with a mark of 7.97 metres.

Makusha then represented Zimbabwe at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the long jump competition he secured a place in the final round with his first qualifying jump, which measured 8.14 metres. In the first round of the final, Makusha jumped 8.19 metres. With the mark he was in the lead until the third round, when Irving Saladino jumped 8.21 metres. Makusha did not improve further, and was overtaken by Godfrey Khotso Mokoena and Ibrahim Camejo, who leapt 8.24 and 8.20, respectively, and thus finished fourth, while Saladino won the event with a mark of 8.34 metres.

The 2008–09 indoor season saw Makusha achieving a personal best time in the 60 metres, running in 6.68 seconds in January in Blacksburg. In February in the same city, he improved this to 6.60 seconds. He also jumped a Zimbabawean national indoor record of 8.21 metres.

After graduating from Florida State with a Bachelor's Degree in Applied Economics, Makusha turned professional and signed a four-year sponsorship contract (2011–15) with Chinese sports apparel company Li-Ning.

Makusha took bronze in the long jump at the 2011 World Championships with a leap of 8.29m.

Makusha placed first in the long jump competition at the 2014 Globen Galan with a mark of 8.18m.

Makusha retired in 2017.

In August 2021, Makusha was inducted into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame.

Coaching career Makusha started his coaching career while still a professional athlete. He was a volunteer assistant coach for Florida State for six seasons (2012–17).

He then spent two seasons (2018, 2019) as an assistant coach at Drake working with the sprints, jumps and hurdles athletes, while pursuing a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership.

On July 31, 2019, Makusha was named the men's and women's track & field head coach at UC Davis.