Friday, March 29, 2024

Matete rates Zambia’s World Championships performance

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Athletics great Samuel Matete says female runner Kabange Mupopo has a lot to learn after tumbling at the IAAF World Championships in China.

Mupopo on Tuesday tumbled to a disappointing eighth place finish in the 400m semi finals.

In an interview with Lusaka Times in Kitwe, Matete said Mupopo tried her best at the Beijing event despite failing to reach the final.

“There is a lot our athletes can learn from the World Championships. Kabange did very well but she has a long way to go,” said the former 400m hurdles World Champion.
“I am encouraging Kabange to continue training hard and I am sure she will get there one day,” Matete said.

On 17-year old Sydney Siame, Matete said it was tricky to rate the performance of the youngster at the China competition.

Siame made his first appearance in qualifying heats and was honored to run alongside Usain Bolt but could not make it to the semifinals.

In the 200m men’s heat, Siame missed out on the opportunity to reach the semi finals after finishing seventh with a time of 21.08 seconds failing to beat his personal best of 20.53 seconds.

“Sydney is a very young athlete, someone would even wonder why they (ZAAA) picked him to go to the World Championships when he just returned from the Youth Olympics,” he said. “It is very difficult to rate Sydney. I can only say it is good for him to learn but otherwise he has a long way to go,” Matete observed.

4 COMMENTS

  1. A legend of Matete’s calibre should be head of ZAAA or at least in the top executive. But because we don’t treasure our own, we have left the sport to be run by charlatans like Mpondela. How Matete is no where near ZAAA is simply beyond me. Seems these fake sports administrators have formed some cartel to banish progressive minds.

  2. Would you say the same for great Kalu. While this wamuyaya syndrome in sports associations is detrimental to development, leadership should not just be given because of past performance on the “pitch”.
    Samuel might make a great ZAAA leader, but that will be because of his leadership training & personality. His exploits on the track will just be the spicing.

    • well put i was going to say the same. apa we are already complaining of kalu you want to bring another. administration should be differentiated from field events.

  3. …it baffles me to think that a population of 14m we cannot produce the likes of bolt, the William sisters or another Matete…..whenever I visit most of the night clubs, i notice huge well built door bouncers fit to be athletes…..the best they can do is just lazy around the club entrance admitting underage revellers for a beer…..the likes of Dibaba parading themselves at night along Addis Ababa drive…..how lazy can we Zambians get kanshi……..???

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