By SANDRA MWILA and MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
THE Zambia Amateur Athletics Association (ZAAA) says Kabange Mupopo’s triumph at the ongoing All-Africa Games (AAG) in Congo Brazzaville is a clear testimony that the association’s refocusing strategy is bearing fruit.
Mupopo, who is African champion, ran a stunning 50.22 seconds in the 400-metre women final race to bag a gold medal after outsmarting her opponents on Tuesday.

. Mpondela

ZAAA president Elias Mpondela said Mupopo’s victory was a great achievement for the association that was working hard to develop athletes.
“I am proud of Mupopo. She has done extremely well, which is an indication that our planning and programming is yielding fruits. ZAAA has heavily invested in the athletes and the support of International Olympic Committee has also contributed to this success,” Mpondela said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday.
He said Mupopo was a focused and disciplined athlete, who had what it took to reach greater heights in her sporting career.
Mpondela also appealed to the Government to increase its support to athletics, saying it took years to produce a gold medallist.
Former 400m hurdles world champion, Samuel Matete also showered praise on Mupopo, saying her future in athletics was bright.
Matete said minting a gold medal at the AAG had given Mupopo great impetus to rally for more silverware in future competitions.
“Winning a gold medal is good for Mupopo as a young athlete because it has given her confidence to achieve more going forward. She has a lot of energy and her future is bright,” Matete said in a separate interview.
The 1996 Atlanta Olympics silver medalist, however, said there was need for Zambia to learn from past and present mistakes to build a strong base of athletes for the future.
He said apart from Mupopo, the performance of the other athletes was not inspiring and that more work needed to be done.
Matete said during the 2011 AAG staged in Mozambique, Zambian athletes only managed to win two medals.
“There is need for people to be realistic about the development of sport in the country. The showing of other runners apart from Kabange (Mupopo) was not as good as we expected and so there’s nothing to be proud of,” he said.