Malawi to beef up national cross-country team

Malawi is determined to fight for medals at this year’s two-day Southern Africa Cross Country which Lesotho hosts from February 23 2013.

To realise the dream, the Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) wants to increase the athletics team from last year’s two to 20, the association’s general secretary Frank Chitembeya confirmed on Saturday.

He said this on the sidelines of the relaunching of the Ching’ombe National Cross-Country in Blantyre.

“From Ching’ombe Championship, we should identify the 20 elite athletes. We are thus requesting for financial support as we need K2.5 million to meet the athletes’ expenses,” said Chitembeya.

Last year, Kephas Kesten and Grevazio Mpani were Malawi’s ambassadors at the All Africa Cross Country in Cape Town, South Africa.

This year, the cream from the Lesotho championship will make the Malawi team at the World Cross Country Championship which Poland hosts from March 24 2013.

According to Chitembeya, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will sponsor two Malawi athletes.