Athletic great and national team assistant coach Samuel Matete says Zambians should be patient with sprinter Sydney Siame ahead of this month-end’s World Championship in Doha, Qatar.
Siame will be at the Doha meet, that will run from September 27 to October 6, a month after winning a gold medal in the 200 metres at the recent African Games in Morocco.
He will be Zambia’s lone envoy at the World Championship scheduled to start on September 27.
‘It is a very good step Sydney has taken to winning the African games but going to the World Championship will definitely give him a very good opportunity to see some of the best athletes and what where he needs to be in order to be at the top of the World,’ Matete said.
‘The African games was a very good platform to start to believe in himself that yes he can do it but I think he still needs a bit of time to get more experience. We cannot start to talk about big things yet. Sydney is still very young and he is still yet to achieve the bigger things,’ Matete said.
Siame timed 20.35 seconds to win Zambia’s only gold at the Morocco games.
‘World Championships will also give him a different feeling of what it takes to be a World champion. It is a very tough competition but with what he has done it has definitely given him a platform and a self belief that it can be done,’ Matete said.
Matete won a gold medal at the 1991 World Championships and was twice silver medallist at the same event.
He was three-time World Cup winner and won gold at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
Matete later won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta in what still is Zambia’s last medal at the World biggest showpiece event.
Okay the world record is 19.19 seconds
This dude has clocked 20.35
That is the dude is 1.16 seconds from the World record held by no other than Usain Bolt of Jamaica, who ran 19.19s at the 2009 World Championships
Looks very promising, wishing you the best. Dont listen to Matete just go do it boy if you feel you are ready