WHILE waiting for the verdict on team sports, Zambia has been allocated seven slots for
individual disciplines at the 2023 Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Youth Games.
And National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ), in consultation with Paralympics Committee, will send an application for para-sport slots at the August 4 to 11 event.
The Commonwealth Youth Games, which targets athletes aged between 14 and 18, has
no qualification criteria apart from slots allocated to eligible countries.
NOCZ Secretary General Boniface Kambikambi said in an interview yesterday that
Zambia has so far been given seven slots.
Kambikambi named the disciplines as aquatics, cycling, athletics, and triathlon while the team sports will have fast five netball, beach volleyball, and rugby sevens.
He said Zambia will compete in swimming, cycling, and athletics in individual
disciplines while awaiting team sports allocation.
“Most of the countries have been given seven slots. What Commonwealth does is, they give an allocation for individual sports, and it is up to the country to choose which sports to take
part in, whether all or one,” Kambikambi said.
“The technical committee met and decided that we should go for three sports. That is how the allocation was made.”
Kambikambi said Zambia will send two swimmers, two cyclists, and three track and field
athletes with each sport having male and female representation.
He said NOCZ has written to the three associations requesting for names of athletes.
For team sports, Kambikambi said the allocation of slots is a preserve of international
federations depending on the ranking of the country.
“By end of January, we will be able to know which countries will be allocated. The team
may increase depending on which team sport we will be allocated,” he said.
And Kambikambi said Zambia will make an application to participate in Paralympics
that will run concurrently with the main games.
The para-sport section will have 100 metres, long jump and discus.
Kambikambi said para-sport slots will be dependent on the review after the applications.
*This article was originally written by Diana Chipepo and was published on Tuesday 10th January 2023 in the Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper.
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