FOR some time now, Zambian athletes have shot up to the summit on the tracks with a measure of pride.
Saviour Kombe, a 400metre runner is one of the athletes that have stormed the international scene in track and field while proving to be vital tools for Zambia’s success.
Kombe is not just fun to watch when in the race but he is also entertaining and commands a huge following in the country and the African continent at large because of his agility that keeps his fanatics always in anticipation of victories.
The mining town of Chingola has proved to be a powerhouse and a reliable reservoir for the athletics national teams in Zambia as it has produced the likes of hurdles champion, Samuel Matete, 100metre gold medalist, Sydney Siame, 800metre runner, Godfrey Chama and 200metre sprinter Titus Kafunda among others.
Representing Africa at the just ended Inter-Continental Cup Athletics Championship held in Marrakech, Morocco, Kombe showed amazing strength and character when he took to the tracks in  the highly competitive 4×400 metres relay race.
Kombe put up an imposing performance to help his African team win the race when he picked up the button from Isaac Makwala of Botswana, a display that left teams America and Europe stunned as the African continent celebrated the triumph.
But who is this runner? Well, Kombe is a sprinter, who was born on August 3 1991 in Chingola Kombe’s specialty in track and field is the 400 metres in which he has a personal best time of 45.27 seconds and in addition to that, he is a joint holder of the Zambian record in the 4×100 metres relay and 4×400 metres relay.
Kombe has represented Zambia twice at the Commonwealth Games in the year 2010 and 2014 and also at the 2011 All-Africa Games.
This year has been a year of action for the 23-year-old and during the 2014 African Championships in Athletics where finished the race in fourth position.
His moment was during the 2014 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) InterContinental Cup when he scooped his first international medal after winning gold in the 4×400 relay with team Africa.
Indeed this was a great achievement for the youngster and it will leave an indelible mark on his career going forward as he pursues more honours.
Inspired by the achievements of Matete, Zambia’s first Athletics world champion, Kombe developed interest in track and field at the age of 14 and it wasn’t long before he took to the tracks in 2005 in his native town, Chingola.
His presence on the athletics scene was quickly felt when he made an immediate impact and his first success as a teenager came soon after as he showcased a stunning performance, winning two gold medals at the Southern African development Community (SADC) Games.
The triumph was followed by a third place finish at the South African Regional Championships and he was set to fly the country’s flag high at the World youth Championship in 2007 in Ostrava, Czech Republic but on account of personal commitments, he did not compete.
In 2008 he repeated his third place finish at the regional championship and by his late teens, he had established himself among the nation’s top sprinters.
He represented Zambia in three events at the 2010 Africa Championship in Nairobi, Kenya.
He competed in the 200m while reaching the semi-finals of the 400metre and further helped set a Zambian record of 40.94 seconds in the 4×100 metres relay, an event in which Zambia finished seventh in the final.
Hard work saw Kombe rise sharply to the top and in the same year, he was called to the national team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games that took place in Delhi, India where he competed in the 400metres.
At that feat, he managed to set a personal best and national junior record of 46.88 seconds to progress to the semi-finals but missed out on a gold medal after falling out on the way to the final.
The following year, he competed at the All-Africa Games the in Maputo, Mozambique and again he failed to win gold as he bowed out at the semi-final stage.
During the , Kombe competed in the 400metres only, he finished the race in fifth place in the semi-finals and did not reach the final round despite opening with a personal best of 46.49 seconds.
However, Kombe this year emerged as an improved sprinter.
He ran 400metres in under 46 seconds for the first time in July when he competed at Resisprint in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, finishing in third position in 45.48 seconds in a race where Botswana’s Makwala broke the African record.
Unfortunately, the Zambian budding star was unable to repeat his form that saw him finish third at La Chaux-de-Fonds when he suffered elimination in the semi-finals during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
However, he helped the Zambian team break the 4x400m relay national record with a run of 3:07.43 minutes in the heats before finishing eighth in the final.
A fast final at the African championships saw Kombe improve further to 45.27 seconds. This brought him fourth place while Makwala set a championship record over a second ahead.
The finish earned him a place on the relay team for Africa at the InterContinental Cup in Marrakech, Morocco, an event in which the African quartet of Makwala, Kombe, Boniface Mucheru and Wayde Van Niekerk emerged victorious.
With these positive indications by young lads and laces, the future of athletics in Zambia is undoubtedly bright; it is, therefore, prudent for the corporate entities to keep the sporting flame burning by ensuring that their unwavering support towards various codes does not wither.
Kombe’s achievements so far are just a tip of an ice berg of what a number of athletes, young and old are able to attain to lift Zambia’s name in the eyes of the world.
Zambia has a reservoir of talent that is set to deliver honours and therefore, any form of support towards infrastructure development and talent identification would go a long way.
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