FORMER Olympian Robson Mulombe, a trailblazing athlete from Matabeleland North Province who made history by participating in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, has died.
As a long-distance runner, he showcased his endurance and determination on the world stage. Born on September 12, 1945, Mulombe began running at Kanchindu Mission School in Zambia in the 1960s. He later joined the Wankie Athletic Club, a fierce competitor in Rhodesian track and field.
The late competed in the 1964 Summer Olympic men’s marathon, finishing 56th with
2 hours 49 minutes and 30 seconds. He attributed his performance to cramps during the race, believing he would have placed better without them. He qualified for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, but he was sidelined.
Among the accolades he won in his career were the 60th Edition Rhodesia Athletics Championship in 1969, the Mashonaland Senior Championship in 1971, the South African Marathon Championship, in which he won the title in 1971 with a time of 2:32:13, the South Africa Chamber of Mines in 1966, the Orange Free State race in 1970 and 1970, and the South Africa Chamber of Mines races in 1971.
He joined Hwange Athletics Club and used to train with Mathias Kanda, where the athletes would run from Hwange to Vic Falls and back. For his contribution to athletics, the late Mulombe received Honorary Recognition as an honorary member of the Kujatana Nkubotu peace half-marathon in Binga, Zimbabwe in 2012.
He was the patron for the Binga Kasambabezi Marathon. In 2022, the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee [ZOC] donated a grinding mill to him as a service to Olympians, so that he could see the world as a better place. He passed on after a long illness this Tuesday.
Mulombe’s running career has been celebrated in Zimbabwe with a retrospective of his achievements.
