Copper Queens striker Kabange Mupopo has become the first Zambian to participate in two different sports at the Summer Olympics.
Having debuted as a 400-metre runner at the Rio 2016 Olympics, Mupopo has returned to the global sporting event as a football star for Zambia.
The former track athlete featured in Zambia’s 3-0 defeat to the USA in Group B of the women’s football tournament. She started in attack alongside National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) megastars Barbra Banda and Racheal Kundananji at the Allianz Riviera on Thursday.
Born in 1992 in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, Mupopo first developed an interest in football as a young girl. She went on to serve as the Zambian women’s national team captain at only 22, inspiring them to the 2014 African Women’s Championship in Namibia.
This was while doubling as a 400-metre sprinter for Zambia at the 2014 African Championships, where she minted silver, setting a national record of 51.21 seconds. Mupopo also participated in the IAAF Continental Cup the same year, bettering the national record time with a fourth-place finish.
Just after getting her 18-month athlete scholarship from the Zambian Olympic Committee, she bagged a gold medal at the 2015 All-Africa Games in Brazzaville. The sprinter clocked an impressive 50.22 seconds, a 400-metre national record that still stands today.
In 2016, Mupopo notched a gold medal at the Durban African Championships before debuting at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
However, things took a turn for the worst in 2018, when the runner was slapped with a four-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after testing positive for a prohibited substance at the IAAF World Championships.
After serving the ban, Mupopo has participated in some 400-metre relay races but has shifted her focus to football, representing Green Buffaloes Women’s FC.
Earlier this year, Mupopo received a surprise call-up from Zambia women’s head coach Bruce Mwape for the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifiers. The 31-year-old returned the favour by scoring a crucial goal in the preliminaries that helped propel Zambia to the quadrennial showpiece in France.
“It’s an amazing feeling; when you have been there as an athlete, now you are going to be there with the football team,” Mupopo admitted before the tournament. “So, it’s a very nice thing. Everyone wants to be at the Olympics; I’m really happy.”
Mupopo can now claim the title of being the only Zambian athlete to participate in the Summer Olympics as a 400-metre sprinter and footballer.
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