Olympics preparations are going well - Rhodah

RHODAH Njobvu speaking to journalists after her exhibition race. PICTURE: NOCZ Media

SPRINTER Rhodah Njobvu says her preparations for next month’s Olympic Games are going well despite the postponement of the Algeria-slated African Championships which would have given her international exposure before going to the games.

Njobvu who was hoping to use the competition as part of Olympics preparations is among a list of 14 Zambian athletes that were supposed to take part in the athletics championships at the end of June before they were postponed again due to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

Following the rescheduling, the athlete has continued her local preparations with national team coach Douglas Kalembo who has mostly been pairing her against male athletes as a way of improving her timing.

The 27 year-old has however revealed that the preparations have been going well so far and is confident they will help her remain consistent ahead of her debut appearance at the Olympics.

“The preparations are going on well, although I was expecting to go and do my best at the African Championship unfortunately they have been postponed again.

“We have been doing a modern competitions which can help me become consistent with my performance.

"Cephas is giving me a very good competition because he is a very strong person and I feel I need to do my best so that he cannot leave me behind and catch up with him so that I put up a good performance," she said in reference to 400 metres sprinter Cephas Nyimbili whom she beat in a 200m race during training.

Meanwhile, Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) Ambassador Nchimunya Mweetwa has urged athletes in the country to continue working hard and stay away from unethical conduct if they want to succeed in sport.

MWEETWA

Mweetwa said this when he called on Zambia Athletics runners who were training at National Heroes Stadium on Monday morning.

“They need to stay away (from unethical sports activities), there’s no short cut to success, you just have to work extra hard and at the end of the day you may succeed. If you fail today, you may do it tomorrow.

“You can do a shortcut but be sure that you will face the consequences,” he told journalists.

He said this after he took part in an exhibition race with Njobvu and fellow Olympics-bound team-mate Sydney Siame.

Mweetwa who is also a sport ambassador with International Olympic Committee (IOC) further reiterated the importance of raising awareness on clean competition for athletes adding there was a need to sensitise them on unethical conduct to avoid them falling victim.

At the same venue, National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ) Safe Sport officer Prudence Hachitapika re-affirmed her office’s commitment towards clean sport while also commending support the received from sports federations in the country.

“We want to re-affirm our support towards safe sport initiative and we are happy to work with NIF our partners with the initiatives they have.

“We happy to be associated with the initiative of clean sport and also interact with the coaches and athletes, we are happy with the relationship with Zambia Athletics,” she said.

NOCZ Safe Sport officer Prudence Hachitapika (in yellow scarf), poses for a picture with Zambia Athletics runners at National Heroes Stadium. PICTURE: NOCZ Media