Siame readies for  London Championships

Tue, 18 Apr 2017 10:21:09 +0000

By Michael Miyoba

ZAMBIA’S 2014 Nanjing gold medalist sprinter Sydney Siame says he will prepare adequately for him to achieve his goal of minting gold at the 2017 London world championships.

In an interview ,Siame said he will not relax after he broke the 100 metres national record and qualified for the London World Championships.

The 20-year-old clocked 9.88 seconds against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) qualifying standard time of 10.12 seconds.

“I’m very happy to have broken the record. This time I run very fast and my time is leading now in the world but qualifying with such a great record will not make me relax and underrate other athletes because athletics changes. Today you win, tomorrow you lose; that’s how it is, so I will work and train hard,” Siame said.

“I will just be humble and train hard and remain focused so that I can go and do well at the world championships in London.

“My target is to go and break the record I have achieved and reach the finals and even win medals. I’ve been training hard with my coach who is very experienced. Therefore we will be able to handle the pressure,” said Siame.

Siame made history when he broke the national record of 10.03s which was held by United States-based Zambian athlete Gerald Phiri.

So far nine athletes have managed to qualify for the international competitions with Siame, African female champion Kabange Mupopo, Hazemba Chidamba and Jordan Chipangama completing the list of the four athletes who will represent the nation at the London event.

Tough-tested Chidamba, despite finishing behind Siame, also qualified for the London championships with a time of 10.11s while marathon runner  Jordan Chipangama qualified for the London event after clocking 2:15:15 against the qualifying time of 2:19:00 at the Daegu Marathon in South Korea.

African female champion Kabange Mupopo stole the show when she qualified in the 200 metres, clocking 23.03s against IAAF qualifying standard of 24.00s.

The London World Championships will be held from August 5 to 13 while the Kenya Under-18 world championships are scheduled for July 12 2017.