TCU track and field star continues to represent his country
FORT WORTH, Texas (BVM) — Chengetayi (Du) Mapaya is currently one of the fastest rising track and field (triple jump) stars in the world.
Mapaya, who’s from Harare, Zimbabwe, is currently in his senior year at Texas Christian University. During his time there, he has made huge impacts on and off the field.
Before he arrived at TCU, Mapaya won gold in the triple jump at the African Junior championships. He set a record for an African junior with a 16.30m jump. He earned a silver medal at the Annual National Sports Awards Junior Sportsman of the Year.
Setting foot on campus for the first time in 2018, Mapaya made his presence known right away. In 2018, he jumped 16.42 meters at the NCAA Championship meet, which earned him First-Team All-American honors. It also earned him a fifth-place finish. In three indoor meets that year, he finished third place all three times, including a 16.38-meter jump that ranks second in TCU history. He passed the 16-meter mark in all three meets as well.
In 2019, Mapaya won the NCAA Outdoor Triple Jump National Championship along with a Big 12 Championship. He shattered the school record jump with a 16.83-meter, breaking Scotty Newton’s record from 2018.
In the 2020 season, Mapaya earned a silver medal at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships, jumping 16.06 meters.
Now, Mapaya is currently ranked No.1 in TCU history for Outdoor Triple Jump and Indoor Triple Jump. But it has been a long journey to get where he is today.
When asked what made him want to get into track and field, Mapaya said that at first, he never had big goals for it, saying that he only did it for the “swag” back home in his country of Zimbabwe. There, he attended St. George’s College.
Mapaya said he got a lot of inspiration from two American triple jumpers.
“As I became better, I started looking into the event more and the likes of Will Claye and Christian Taylor who motivated me to want to become a good triple jumper,” Mapaya said.
Will Claye represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympics. There, he earned a silver medal in the triple jump. Claye represented the U.S. once again in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He earned another silver medal in the triple jump.
Alongside Claye, Christian Taylor is another U.S. track star Mapaya looks up to. During the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games, he won two gold medals.
As Mapaya continued his success on the track, more schools began to notice his talents. He evidently chose TCU because he knew they believed in him, adding that his parents were a factor.
“My parents also had a deep feeling it would be a great school [TCU] for me, so I listened to them,” Mapaya said.
Aside from his numerous awards and record-breaking jumps, Mapaya said his time at TCU has been “nothing but exceptional.”
“There is nothing I would want to change from my TCU experience,” Mapaya said. “The love, the family environment, and the support I have received is amazing.”
Mapaya added that track and field means the world to him, in that it has helped him in numerous ways.
“Track and field reveals my character. When I’m doing track, I’m in my happy place,” Mapaya said. “I don’t have to think of any problem but the task at hand. Track and Field has made me travel to many places around the world, and it means the world to me.”
Being from the African country of Zimbabwe, Mapaya feels pride knowing of his responsibility representing his country so far from home.
“It’s a special privilege to be representing Zimbabwe here at TCU,” Mapaya said. “I get to share some experiences that most people do not know about [the] small country.”
Mapaya hopes to follow in the footsteps of his inspiration, Taylor, and Claye, by representing his home country in the Olympics.
When asked what the Olympics mean to him, Mapaya said he wants to use the role to be an inspiration for younger jumpers.
“The Olympics will set up my career; I plan on going professional. It will make me get seen on the world stage and put my country on the map in sports,” Mapaya said. “I want to excel in the Olympics; a podium finish is my goal. I just want to shed hope to my country and inspire young ones that look up to me.”
Aside from the Olympics, when asked what his current goals are now, Mapaya replied only with, “winning another National Championship.” TCU Track and Field coach Shawn Jackson spoke highly of Mapaya. When asked to describe him in one word, Jackson replied, “magnetic.”
“His biggest impact is really off the track away from the coaches. He is a team-first and unselfish teammate that tries to assist and encourage his teammates to find the best in the team both on and off the track,” Jackson said. “On the track is he not afraid to be a vocal leader and back that up with his work ethic.”
Jackson also added that Mapaya brings some comedic relief, saying, “When all is said and done, he will be the first to make you laugh.”
Mapaya is a Communication Studies major and Business minor at TCU. When asked that, he added at the end, “with [an] emphasis in track and field,” with a chuckle.
It has been a long and successful journey for Mapaya. He’ll continue to compete for TCU. But the dream of representing Zimbabwe in the Olympics remains his No. 1 goal.
