Zambia have produced several athletes who have gone on to achieve worldwide recognition and their meritorious accomplishments in various sports deserve acknowledgement. We take a look at the five best athletes from the Southern Africa country.
Samuel Matete
The athletics legend is the greatest Zambian track and field athlete of all-time, and he was considered to be one of the world's leading hurdlers in the early 1990s.
Matete remains the country's only track and field gold medal winner at global level, grabbing it at the 1991 World Championships in the 400m hurdles.
His personal best of 47.10 seconds, achieved during the Weltklasse Zürich in 1991, is the current African record and ranks seventh on the all-time list.
"Every generation has their own talent. When I was coming up, we didn’t have all this technology," Matete said on Okay Africa.
"Very few people in Africa saw me competing live at the Olympics in Atlanta because we didn’t have DSTV (satellite television). There are more distractions now with cellphones and technology.
"I think technology is amazing, but we should find innovative ways to use it to get our kids back to sporting activities.
Kalusha Bwalya
The retired Zambian forward is widely considered to be one of the best African footballers of all-time having been named African Footballer of the Year in 1988 by France Football magazine and CAF.
Bwalya, who helped PSV Eindhoven win two Dutch Eredivisie titles, was also nominated for the 1996 FIFA World Player of the Year and was voted the 12th-best player in the world.
As a result, the former Club America player became the first footballer to be nominated after playing the entire year for a non-European club.
Enter the daily draw for a chance to win a share of K10,000 everyday! Get the details about our More than sports promotion.
Amon Simutowe
The accomplished chess player is the first grandmaster from sub-Saharan Africa and was named Zambia's Sportsman of the Year in 2001.
Simutowe is also the third black chess Grandmaster in history after Jamaican-American legend Maurice Ashley and Swedish star Pontus Carlsson.
The former African Junior Chess Championship winner earned a silver medal, two GM norms at the 2000 Chess Olympiad and 2000 African Championships.
Satwant Singh
The Zambian motorsport icon is one of the greatest African rally drivers of all-time having won eight major trophies during his successful career.
Singh has won the African Rally Championship eight times, making him the most decorated driver in the history of the competition.
The successful businessman and entrepreneur also won the Zambia International rally a record 14 times and he has many local awards.
Godfrey Chitalu
The late striker is widely considered to be the greatest Zambian player of all-time having been voted Zambian footballer of the year five times.
Chitalu, who holds Zambia's goalscoring record with 79 goals, was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African footballers of the past 50 years in 2006.
The former Kabwe Warriors player scored more than 100 goals in all competitions in 1972 according to the Zambian Football Association - making him the only footballer to achieve that in the history of the game.
“It is fact that he scored 107 goals in a single year, it is a well-known fact in Zambia. I remember too that he was honoured in France for the feat, there was a ceremony in his honour," Bwalya told Goal
.
“We will do our best to get his 107 goals into the official record books. He was a great player and should be recognised for his achievements.”
While we wait for sports to get back to on track why not test your skills at the Betway casino?
For all the latest sports news, betting tips and promotions follow
Betway on
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram and
YouTube.
Download the Betway App.