From ELIAS CHIPEPO –

In Brazzaville
AFRICAN women 400m champion Kabange Mupopo won Zambia’s first gold medal at the Congo Brazzaville 2015 All-Africa Games as Saviour Kombe tumbled to a disappointing eighth place finish.
Mupopo clocked 50.22 seconds to set a new national record to a gold medal on the bronze won by boxer Ben Muziyo.
In second place was Okon George of Nigeria with a time of 50.71 seconds with Tjipekapora Herunga of Namibia bagging bronze following her third-place finish on 51.55 seconds.
In the men’s 400m final, Kombe tumbled to eighth place as Issac Makwala of Botswana won gold with Boniface Mwersa of Kenya getting silver while Nkobolo Onkabetse went away with bronze.
In the 400m semi-finals, Mupopo showed she was getting back to her former self as she put up a strong act to win the heat with a time of 50.94 seconds, which was better than the 51.09 seconds posted in the first round.
Kombe eased into the final despite finishing third in his 400m semi-final heat following a time of 45.57 seconds behind winner Alex Sampao of Kenya who timed 45.31 seconds followed by Elnour Sadam of Sudan on 45.41 seconds.
Both the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams that stormed the finals were last night expected to vie for honours.
The only setback for the Team Zambia was in 100m men’s final where youngster Brian Kasinda finished sixth with a time of 10.47 seconds in the race won by Nigerian Youssef Meite Ben, who hit 10.04 seconds.
Kasinda’s time was poor compared to his semi-final qualifying time of 10.29 seconds that saw him miss out on minting a medal as Nigerian Oghene Egwero got silver after finishing second on 10.17 seconds with Wilfred Hua, from Ivory Coast, getting bronze after timing 10.23 seconds.
“For me it was a good experience, it is not easy running against the experienced guys. I have been in this game for two years and still developing but I have gained a lot. I still have time to develop into a good athlete,” Kasinda said.
In the 4x100m relay, Zambia finished third behind Nigeria and Ivory Coast after timing 39.31 seconds to sail through to the finals.
Chidamba Hazemba started in lane five before handing over the baton to Kasinda who finished in third place as he exchanged batons with Titus Kafunda, a position Zambia maintained as Sydney Siame crossed the finishing line.
Nigeria timed 30.97 seconds with Ivory Coast clocking 39.07 seconds followed by Zambia as Ghana also clinched a final slot despite finishing in fourth on 39.86 seconds.
“It was a good race and we are now focused on the finals. We expect tough competition from Nigeria and Ivory Coast but overall, we shall give it the best and fight for gold,” said Siame after the race.
Mupopo was also expected to join the women 4x100m relay team that had Abygirl Sepiso, Lumeka Katundu and Yvonne Nalishuwa. The women relay teams headed straight into finals owing to a few number of teams taking part.
Hazemba, Siame and Kafunda will today return to the tracks to compete in the 200m heats while Kasinda was withdrawn with Kalembo saying the lad needed rest after competing in hectic races.
Meanwhile, coach Douglas Kalembo said he was proud to be part of a group that had identified a young but promising team of athletes whom he backed to win gold medals at the AAG.
“Zambia is a serious contender for medals here and everyone has seen what these young athletes can do. They are still young, and running against these seasoned runners is never easy but I am confident that they will bag medals,” he said.
Kalembo also showered praises on Mupopo, saying the runner was getting back to her level best after recovering from malaria at the start of the athletics season.