Sport

Ponga Liwewe, son of Zambia’s greatest commentator, Dennis, is a distinguished football journalist and administrator in his own right. Ponga did not choose footballers as his greatest Olympian, Zambian or international. Zambia’s greatest athlete Samuel Matete was his greatest Zambian Olympian and his choice as greatest ever is Jamaican athletics icon Usain Bolt, undoubtedly one of the sport’s greats.

Samuel Matete is without doubt the best athlete that Zambia has ever produced. He benefited from state-of-the-art facilities after leaving Zambia for the USA. Matete is back in Zambia. He wants to develop Zambian athletes and help to produce his successor as Zambia’s best. Matete’s Olympic time was not his best and is now the equal 188th fastest in the event, but that was inevitable as athletes get better facilities and technology improves – tracks are designed to produce faster times. Tokyo’s second Olympic Games had such a track.

Sport unites but opinions divide. There are many great Olympians – there have to be. Zambia is a very interesting case study. The last time Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games was in 1964 and Zambia is a special case and not because I happen to be here again. When the Olympic Games last graced Japan, Northern Rhodesia marched at the Opening Ceremony, but the days of white supremacy in the land of Mosi oa Tunya (‘The Smoke which Thunders,’ as the Victoria Falls should be known,) were numbered.

There were 339 events dishing out medals in the recently concluded 32nd Modern Olympiad in Tokyo. Africa has over a quarter of the countries in the world, but it won a measly 37 of the 1080 medals on offer – some extra medals were awarded. That is 3.43% which is considerably below the total in Rio de Janeiro just 5 years ago. Eleven of the 340 – the Men’s high Jump title was shared - gold medals awarded were to Africans. The total of gold medals is even worse, just 3.24%. There were great performances, but the statistics are not lying