ZAAA SET EYES ON COMMONWEALTH GAMES
By GRACE CHAILE LESOETSA ZAMBIA Amateur Athletics Association (ZAAA) will do its best to ensure the athletes are adequately prepared for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia from April 4-15.
The ZAAA president Elias Mpondela reaffirmed the association’s desire to have athletes win medals at international events.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, Mpondela said despite the limited resources available, ZAAA would not leave anything to chance in preparing the athletes. “It takes a lot of resources to prepare a professional athlete and ZAAA has always been on its feet to find the needed funds for our athletes. The resources can be limited but we have done our best to improve the athletics standard in Zambia,”
“We will do our best to adequately prepare athletes for the Commonwealth games," he said.
He said the performance of Sydney Siame and Kabange Mupopo at the World Championship was a sign that Zambia was close to hitting the medal bracket. “Our strategic plan system is indeed producing results. Zambia’s performance at the World Championship where Siame reached the 100 semi-final and Mupopo 400m final is evident enough to show that we are not far from that medal. Siame qualified for Australia in 200m,” he said.
Mpondela advised the athletes to be disciplined and hard working to become world champions.
United States of America-based long-distance runner Jordan Chipangama is the other Zambian already qualified for the Commonwealth Games.