• ZAMBIAN swimmers, Ralph Goveia, Tilka Paljk (centre) and Alexandros Axiotis (right) pose after winning medals at the ongoing African Union Sports Commission Region Five Youth Games in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Ralph won bronze while Tilka received silver in 50 breast with Alex winning bronze in 100m.
From SHAMAOMA MUSONDA In Bulawayo –
ZAMBIAN anthletes here continued with their impressive medal haul at the ongoing African Union Sport Council (AUSC) Region Five Youth Games with the athletics and swimming teams collecting eight more medals.
The athletics team weighed in with five medals, two of them coming from the Visually Impaired (VI) runner while the swimmers picked up three for Zambia’s total of 22 medals at the AUSC Region Five Youth Games ending tomorrow.
At White City Arena, Abigail Sepiso pulled off an impressive run to win silver in the girls’ 200 metre race with a time of 21.16 seconds while her two other compatriots who made the final Marjory Chisenga and Abigail Chongo settled for fifth and eighth places to miss out on medals.
Sydney Siame, the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics gold medalist, picked up bronze in the 200m race when he could have easily won a gold medal in one of the tightest competitions at the regional games which needed a photo finish to determine the winner with Brian Kasinda finishing fourth.
Siame had a slightest of leads coming to the finish line but did not deep his chest early enough at the finish line, allowing South African Kyle Appel to take gold with a time of 21.21 seconds while Botswana’s Baboloki Tebe got silver after timing 21.22 seconds with Siame’s time recorded at 21.23 seconds.
But there was an even more impressive run in the VI category where Loud Moonga won a silver medal in the 1500m of the T13 race with Christopher Manda adding a bronze after finishing third in the 100m dash of the T13 category, timing 12.01 seconds.
Talented athlete, Joseph Sinkala, who won a gold medal in high jump, yesterday added a bronze to the haul and this time from the long jump which he competed in despite carrying a nasty ankle injury.
“I hurt myself in the when winning a gold medal in high jump and today I tried to push myself in long jump I couldn’t be at my best but thank God, I have managed a bronze,” said the star of Team Zambia at these games.
His injury, however, has dealt a devastating blow to the athletics team which is now considering pulling out of the 4X100m and 4X400m relay races where Sinkala was a strong link in the chain.
Athletics coach Kezzias Nyendwa said: “I think it’s just out the end for him here. And that could mean we can not make a team for the two relays. Worse off Godfrey Chama (400 and 800 specialist) is not feeling well, it must be illness so we may pull out of the relays.”
As the athletes were celebrating medals at the White City Arena, the swimmers were jumping onto the podium at the Bulawayo Swimming Club where three medals were scooped.
Tilka Paljk gave Zambia a silver, which is one of the biggest medals swimming has won at such high level international competitions, after an impressive race in the girls’ 50m breaststroke with a time of 33.69seconds.
Two other medals, both bronze, were picked up from the 100m butterfly where Ralph Goveia finished third with a time of 56.34 and by Alex Axiotis who clocked 1:07.69 minutes in the 100m breaststroke.
Adding to that, six of them have made it to the finals this morning.
Goveia and Axiotis will be competing in the finals of the unforgiving 200 Individual Medley while Kesia Lewis will be swimming for a medal in the 50m backstroke and Kumaren Naidu going for the 200m backstroke.
Others in the finals are Paljk who will be competing in the 200m backstroke and Harleena Naidu in the girls 200m backstroke.
The games continue today.
Zambia’s medal chart
Gold Silver Bronze
5 6 11
