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 slight ...

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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. This was the national record for almost 2 decades.

Education

He is an Old Georgian, and attended St George's College, Harare in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

, Zimbabwe. He attended college at both

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a Public university, public Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Kirksville, Missouri, United States. It had 3,664 enrolled students in the fall of 2024 pursuing degrees in 55 undergraduate ...

in Kirksville, MO and

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 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. He also completed a Masters in Intellectual Property Management and Markets (IPMM) from

Chicago-Kent College of Law The Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of the Illinois Institute of Technology, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois (after Northwestern Law). Chicago-Kent wa ...

in 2020.

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 (; ), also known as Algiers 2007 (), took place from 11 to 23 July 2007 in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria. Algiers became the first city to hold All-Africa Games for a second time. The 1978 All-Africa Games were a ...

. He also competed at the 2003 World Championships, the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

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, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

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 brough ...

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 seventh-fastest 200-meter runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier in t ...

. 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 retired Dutch sprinter. He originally placed second in the 200 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but was later disqualified due to a lane violation. Martina secured four and two individual top-f ...

, 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, USA) is a retired American sprint athlete who specialized in the 200 meters. He is a two-time NCAA outdoor champion in the 200 m and won the silver medal in the eve ...

(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 The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

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 streets of Paris and the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, F ...

. * 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 contested at ...

: 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

* (archived) {{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 Athletes 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 Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 All-Africa Games African Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)