By ADRIAN MWANZA –
THE national relay team will leave for the United States today to take part in the Penn Relay and Tom John’s invitational rallies on April 22 and 30 respectively.
Four runners will link up with US based Gerald Phiri for the event.
Trainer Ralph Mouchbani named the four Zambians leaving today as Hazemba Chindamba, Brian Kasinda, Titus Kafunda and Joseph Sinkala.
Sydney Siame has opted out of the US relay and will be seeking qualification to the Olympics in Asia.
“We are leaving tomorrow (today) for the US where we are going to meet with Gerald Phiri. He is currently training from there and the team is ready for the relays,” he said.
Mouchbani said he was optimistic that the athletes will put up a spirited fight and qualify for the Olympics.
And Kasinda said he was optimistic that he would help the team reap medals.
“These events will help us in qualifying for the Olympics to be held later this year in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. We have a good team and I am sure we shall not fail to qualify for the Olympics,” he said.
Chindamba, who is part of the squad said the Penn and Tom John’s competitions were major events, where top class athletes compete. .
“It’s not a guarantee that we are going to win medals but will put in our very best to ensure we qualify for the Rio games,” he said.
Sinkala said all was set to for the two events and that they would not disappoint despite the stiff competition being anticipated at the event.