PARIS, France – Zimbabwe will have two athletes competing in the final of the Olympics 200 meter final on Thursday, the first time the country has achieved the feat.

Tapiwanashe Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba both qualified third in the semi-finals on Wednesday night and carry the hopes for an elusive medal for Zimbabwe at the Olympics being held in Paris, France.

Makarawu and Charamba took the final two spots with times of 20.16 seconds and 20.31 after Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo topped the the timesheets with a 19.96, the only sprinter to dip below 20 seconds.

Not since Brian Dzingai took fourth in the 100 meters of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 has a Zimbabwean track and field star reached a final.

The world record in the 200m is a 9.58 set by Usain Bolt of Jamaica 15 years ago.