Malawi National Council of Sports and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture say they are impressed with the progress of preparations for the 2026 African Union Sports Council Region 5 Games. The Games are scheduled for December 4 to 13 in Mozambique. Sports Council acting chief executive officer Ivy Chinangwa said: “The initial camping in August to September drew athletes that participated at the last year’s Games in Namibia.
“The second cohort had both athletes that participated in Namibia and new ones identified from the Malawi Youth Games. “It was a successful camping because we had no issues and competition was very high as every athlete was out to impress. The performance was very good.
So, it has been one of the best.” She said the camping sessions, which are held during school holidays, are on-going as they continue to tune up for the Mozambique Games. Chinangwa said about 400 athletes and officials drawn from 18 sports codes were in camp for two weeks. “About 350 camped at Must [Malawi University of Science and Technology] campus [in Thyolo] while 48 from swimming and lawn tennis camped in Blantyre because their facilities are not currently available at Must,” she said.
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On the other hand, the ministry’s spokesperson Macmillan Mwale also said they were satisfied with the progress. Said Mwale: “We were here to monitor the progress and we are happy with the efforts Sports Council has put in to ensure good preparations. “They are doing a commendable job and there is a lot of enthusiasm and commitment from the athletes.” He also said new are athletes are blending well with their existing counterparts.
Mwale said the target this year is to win more medals. “In the previous edition held in Namibia, we bagged 32 medals and we are now targeting more, especially gold and with such regular camps, we will achieve our goal,” he said.
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