NamibiaSport

Athletics in Namibia went through a consolidation phase in 2010 with little success on the international stage, but with some new talents emerging for the future.

Namibia sent a team of seven athletes to the African Athletics Championships in Nairobi, Kenya from 28 July to 1 August.

Sprinter Merlyn Diamond and 400m athlete Tjipekapora Herunga however had to withdraw due to injuries, leaving sprinters Hitjiverue Kaanjuka and Jesse Urikhob, triple jumper Roger Haitengi, middle distance runner Daniel Nghipandulwa and heptathlete Corlia Kruger to take on Africa’s best.

Kaanjuka and Urikhob both reached the semifinals of the men’s 100m where they were eliminated after coming fifth and eighth respectively. Kaanjuka was ranked 17th and Urikhob 22nd out of 24 athletes who competed in the 100m

In the 200m Kaanjuka reached the semifinals where he finished sixth, while Urikhob was eliminated in the first round after finishing fifth.

Roger Haitengi was well below his best and finished tenth in the triple jump final with a distance of 15,55m. He stepped over the mark on his first jump, before clearing 15,27m with his second jump. On his third and final jump he reached a distance of 15,55m.

The 17-year-old Corlia Kruger showed great promise by finishing sixth in the women’s heptathlon with a final score of 4 377 points.

Kruger’s best events were the 100m and 200m sprints and the high jump, as she achieved more than 700 points for all three events. She however struggled in the shot put and javelin throwing events and failed to reach 500 points in both events.

Daniel Nghipandulwa reached the semifinals of the men’s 800m where he finished fifth in a time of 1:50,35, while he was eliminated in the first round of the 1 500m after coming 10th in 3:55,82.

In April, Roger Haitengi was the star performer at the Bank Windhoek National Athletics Championships when he leapt to a new Namibian triple jump record of 16,74m.

In the process he shattered his previous record of 16,38m which he established in South Africa during March, while he also achieved the qualifying standard for the African Senior Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

Juniors compete at international events

Namibia’s top juniors competed at various regional and international events during 2010.

Javelin thrower Strydom van der Wath was Namibia’s only representative at the Junior World Championships in Moncton, Canada, where he failed to reach the final.

Two female middle distance athletes, Julia Handjene and Ndapandula Nghinaunye competed at the African Youth Championships in Morocco, where they qualified for the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Handjene came fourth in the 1 000m in a time of 3:00,27, while Nghinaunye came fifth in the 3 000m in 10:14,89.

At the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, both athletes qualified for the finals in their respective events, where Handjene finished 16th in the 1 000m in 3:00,62 and Nghinaunye eighth in the 3 000m in 10:08,62.

In June, Namibia competed at a Youth Olympics qualifying event in Botswana, where they came fourth out of 12 countries, winning one gold, three silver and two bronze medals. South Africa won the event, followed by Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Charlene Engelbrecht won a gold medal in shotput and a silver medal in discus’ Ottilie Shiyakela won silver in the women’s 400m, the women’s relay team won a silver medal in the Medley Relay, Leandre van der Walt won a bronze medal in the men’s 400m, and Ndapandula Nghinaunye won a bronze medal in the 3 000m.

At the end of June, Namibia competed at the Southern Region Junior Athletics Championships in Maputo, Mozambique, where they came second out of 10 competing nations.

Botswana won the event, followed by Namibia and Zimbabwe in third place. Namibia won 6 gold, 8 silver and 9 bronze medals for a total haul of 23 23 medals. Namibia’s gold medallists were Charlene Engelbrecht (shotput, javelin and discus), Michelle Pretorius (highjump), Jesse Urikhob (200m) and Strydom van der Wath (javelin).