Zambian Athletes Selected to The African Team

Two Zambian athletes, Kabange Mpopo and Saviour Kombe have been selected by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) to be in the team that will represent Africa at the Inter-Continental Championships to be held in Marrakesh from September 13, this year. The two athletes are required to report for camp on 11 September.

This selection comes after the just ended Senior African Championships in Marrakesh, Morroco where Kabange Mpopo scooped a Silver medal in the 400m women after running 51.21, to finish 1/1000s behind Nigeria’s Folashade Abugan who won the Gold Medal.

Saviour Kombe missed the bronze medal when he finished fourth but managed to acquire a new Personal Best time of 45.27. The two athletes have also qualified in Category A at the 2015 World Championships.

At the Glasgow Commonwealth Games held in July/August, 2014 Saviour Kombe ran the 400m Semi Finals with a time of 46.41 and was ranked 23rd overall. He was also part of the 4×400 Relay Team that broke the 26 year old National Record. Kabange Mpopo ran the 400m Women Semi Finals with a time of 53.18 and was ranked 16th overall.
This is yet another milestone in ZAAA’s mission to put Zambian athletics on the World map.

Meanwhile, ZAAA has sent three athletes to represent the country at the World Youth Olympics in Nanjing. Brian Kasinda will be competing in the 200m race, Sydney Siame in the 100m race and Godfrey Chama in the 800m race. Kasinda and Siame were also part of the group that represented the country at the World Junior Championships in Eugene, USA last month.

ZAAA President, Mr. Elias Mpondela has expressed excitement at the impressive performances of the athletes at various International Games and Championships. “While we did not reap as many medals as anticipated, it is very clear that our Strategic Refocusing & Implementation Plan launched mid 2012 in Partnership with the German Sports Co-operation Programme and Olympic Youth Development Center (OYDC), has begun to produce results. As an Association, we are now, more than ever, committed to work very closely with all stakeholders, including Government, Sponsors to ensure that more Zambian athletes get international exposure as this is the only way and hope for more medals.” he said.

Beryl Opiyo – Communications

Posted by Editor on August 19, 2014. Filed under SPORTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry