African games preps stall

Malawian athletes face a race against time to prepare for the 13th African Games formerly All Africa Games, scheduled for Ghana from March 8 to 23.

With less than two months before the competition, not much has been done in terms of preparations.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malawi National Council of Sports and Malawi Olympic Committee (MOC) are yet to draw a plan, including the budget for athletes’ preparations for the event which will also be the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics qualifier.

So far, only Lawn Tennis Association of Malawi has conducted the national championship to identify players for the Games.

Malawi Archery Association, Malawi Amateur Boxing Association, Judo Association of Malawi and Taekwondo Association of Malawi are yet to identify their representatives.

Athletics Malawi (AM), on the other hand, will host time trials at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe this Saturday for the same purpose.

However, MOC general secretary John Kaputa yesterday said they are making progress on preparations.

He said they have come up with various measures to ensure the best athletes carry the Malawi flag at the Games.

 “Unlike before, only the athletes that meet qualification standards in their respective disciplines during national games will go to Ghana,” said Kaputa.

“We will also frequently be sending our technical officers to randomly visit training sessions of various disciplines to monitor how serious and committed athletes are.

“We have also told all disciplines earmarked for the Games to ensure that athletes are only trained by highly qualified coaches.”

Meanwhile, Sports Council spokesperson Edgar Ntulumbwa yesterday said the council was meeting all stakeholders to draw a budget for the event.

“I will be able to say more after the meeting,” he said.

Short-distance runner Stern Lifa, who was one of the country’s ambassadors at the 2019 Games, yesterday said he has been in serious preparations for the past six months.

The national champion and record holder in 100 metre (m) and 200m races explained that he did not wait for the uthorities to  start preparations.

“I have been in intensive training for over six months because a good athlete is supposed to always be in good shape,” he said.

For a male athlete to qualify for the African Games in 100 m (metres) and 200m races, he needs to cross the finishing line in 10.44 seconds and 21 seconds, respectively.

Lifa believes he will meet the qualifying standards for the Games as he broke the national records at the Senior African Athletics Championships in Mauritius last year with 10.33 and 20.88.

In the last edition of the African Games held in Morocco in 2019, team Malawi comprising 22 representatives in athletics, archery, chess, judo, swimming, table tennis and taekwondo failed to win any medal.

The country has participated in eight editions of the Games, winning five medals including silver and four bronze.

However, Malawi is among five of the 50 medal-winning nations yet to claim gold.