By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
THE National Olympics Committee (NOC) has challenged Zambian athletes that will take part in the Africa Union Sports Commission (AUSC) Region Five Games in Zimbabwe to aim at qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
NOC general secretary Hazel Kennedy said in an interview yesterday that time was ripe for the young athletes to break out of the shells and aim higher.
Kennedy said athletes that will be competing in various sports disciplines at Games that commence today should set their eyes on making it to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
She said the year 2014 has been successful with regards to the development of athletes as evidenced by Zambia winning gold medal at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics in August.
“We’ve hard glorious moments in the year 2014, especially with regards to the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics where Copperbelt athlete Sidney Siame managed to win a gold medal for the country.
With that show and many others, it is evident that our athletes have set their stakes higher and therefore we would challenge them to work even harder with the 2016 Olympic Games fast approaching. We need to have more athletes qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics,” Kennedy said.
Meanwhile, Kennedy said the NOC was confident that Zambian athletes will properly account for themselves as they take part in the Region Five Games in Zimbabwe.
She said team Zambia had prepared adequately at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka and that it was time to raise the country’s flag higher.
“They did well at various competitions this year and we are confident that they will bring medals home. We have a number of young athletes,
full of vigour and enthusiasm and I would like to wish them the best,” she said.