Category: Sports

Namibian athletes with disabilities won three medals on the opening day of the World Para Athletics (WPA) 2023 Nottwil Grand Prix underway in Nottwil, Switzerland.

The fifth round of the WPA Grand Prix is being held at the Sport Arena Nottwil located at the Schweizer Paraplegic-Centre from 25 to 27 May 2023. This year’s Grand Prix forms part of the 10th anniversary of the WPA Grand Prix.

On the opening day of the championship on Thursday, track athletes walked away with three silver medals from the 200 metre (m) events.

The first athlete to win a medal for Team Namibia was T11 male sprinter, Immanuel Alfredo Bernado, who won silver after finishing first in his heat, but was second overall with a time of 24.92 seconds.

Kang Miyang of China won the gold medal. He won his heat with a time of 24.36 seconds to finish as the fastest athlete from the two heats that were held. Flores Peniche Jose de Jesus of Mexico took the last podium place.

T11 female sprinter Lahja Ishitile scooped another medal in the 200m sprint with a time of 27.06 seconds. Zhou Guohua of China won the gold with a time of 26.08 seconds.

Meanwhile another female sprinter, Lahja Ipinge, missed out on a podium position after finishing fourth in the T12 category, with a time of 28.72 seconds.

Namibia’s third medal on the day came from T37 sprinter Petrus Karuli, who won a silver in the 200m after winning his heat with a time of 26.27 seconds, but his overall time saw him end in second place.

Stijn van Bergen of the Netherlands won the T37 sprint with a time of 25.98 seconds after winning heat two of the T37 categories.

Lukas Schwechheimer of Germany won the bronze in the T37 event with a time of 27.95 seconds.

Denzel Namene, the T44 athlete, did not show up for his F44 long jump call room and was disqualified from the championship.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Riwaldo Goagoseb, the guide of T11 sprinter Chris Kinda, says his dream is to one day rub shoulders with the crème de la crème in the T11 100 metre (m) and 400m sprints.

Goagoseb, a sprinter himself, says he has committed all his time to guide as he has a dream of representing Namibia with Kinda at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Para Athletics Championships or Paralympic Games.

The sprinter said his dream is not impossible if he works hard at all the goals they have set for themselves.

“I became an athlete when I joined the Namib Lions Athletics Club through the recommendation of a friend, Michael Kawiwi. Despite joining the club as an athlete, I was soon introduced to guiding by coach Michael Hamukwaya, and I have never looked back,” said Goagoseb.

Goagoseb has previously competed at the Fazza International Championships Dubai Grand Prix and the Marrakech Grand Prix in Morocco and said qualifying for the World Para Athletics Championships and the Paralympic Games would make him happy.

“We need to work hard if we are to realise that dream. Going to the world championships will be difficult, but if we work hard and mentally prepare well with our coach, we will qualify for these games,” he said.

The athlete, currently being coached by Henk Botha, stated that to be the best in the world, they have to compete with the best in their category.

“We want to experience the intense competition amongst the world’s best as Ananias Shikongo, one of the best in the world, has been doing,” Goagoseb said, adding that he is enjoying his role as a guide because it’s in his nature to help people, but the job comes with its up and downs.

“Guiding is not an easy job as visually impaired people are sometimes difficult, but I have learned how to balance this. The good part of what I am doing is the exposure I get to see the world and learn from the different cultures,” he said.

He added that winning a bronze medal in the 100m and 400m at the 2022 Dubai Grand Prix was a good stepping stone, which they want to emulate at upcoming championships.

Michael Hamukwaya, the secretary-general of the Namibia Paralympic Committee (NPC), told this agency on Monday that guides are a crucial part of the visually impaired athletes.

“We are happy to be working well with Athletics Namibia but what I wish should be introduced is for these clubs to start having athletes with a disability in their clubs,” he said, noting that a guide is an athlete’s eyes. They are crucial for T11 and T12 athletes.

“If you look at T11 athletes, these guys are completely blind while the T12 can partially see light. That is why we must start introducing guidance in people’s lives even at the community level so that by the time they become professionals they are used to the system,” Hamukwaya said.

The NPC secretary-general added that visually impaired people are prevented from partaking in sports because they don’t have guides, and the NPC tried recruiting guides and it has not worked as planned as some people quit the job after pressure from people when seen holding hands while crossing the streets or walking in town or their communities.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Usman Harun and Ruth Osagie on Friday, won the Poomsae event in the male and female categories of the ongoing National President Cup Open Championship.

The three-day event, organised by the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja, saw 34 athletes compete in the event, out of the 192 entries for the competition.

A total of 20 athletes took part in the male event while 14 competed in the women’s category.

The event which saw participants move from preliminary stages to quarter finals, semi finals and then finals, earned Harun, from Oyo, gold medal with 19 points.

His closest rival was Salaudeen Abdulhafeez from Lagos with 18 points to win the silver medal while the bronze medal was given to the duo of Eniola Aramide of Ondo and Stanley Osagie of Lagos, both with 16 points.

The women’s category saw Osagie of Bayelsa winning gold with 18 points while Kudirat Harun of Bayelsa as well claimed the silver medal with 17 points.

Harun’s sibling, Habibat, also representing Bayelsa, won bronze medal alongside Beauty Ditu of Lagos, both with 16 points.

Now, three Harun siblings won medals in the event with the older sibling, Usman, saying his motivation was his sisters.

“I am proud with what we have achieved today, although I believe that we can do better.

“My biggest motivation is my sisters because I am their coach and I want them to see me as a role model, so I try to put my best in whatever I’m doing,” Harun said.

Speaking on the competition, the black belt holder, said it was challenging competing with other athletes.

“I think that the standard of the game is high. Competing against other tough athletes can be challenging but I thank God I won.

“I had also undergone a few training and courses recently before I came for the competition, maybe that helped to put me ahead of my opponents,” he said.

On her part, Osagie, winner of the women’s event, was excited with her performance and hopeful of replicating same feat in future competitions.

The tournament continues on Sunday with para and kyrougi events.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Team Namibia’s physiotherapist on their European Grand Prix Tour of Jesolo, Italy and Nottwil, Switzerland, Ruan Mocke says he is humbled by the para-athletes’ dedication and drive despite their impairments.

Mocke who is co-owner of the Ruan Mocke & Marieke Kirchner Physiotherapy has been a physio for several sports teams nationally.

In an interview with Nampa on Saturday, Mocke said working with athletes living with a disability has challenged him to bring fields together that he previously saw separately.

“I have enjoyed growing as a physiotherapist through being exposed to high-performance athletes with disabilities. Simultaneously, I have been humbled by the dedication and drive of these athletes despite their impairments. They are truly ambassadors for the Land of the Brave,” he said.

He added that he enjoys the challenge of combining these fields, which he has experience in, to try and achieve optimal movement efficiencies which can help the athletes to perform at their best.

Mocke stated that on his journey with the National Paralympic Committee (NPC), he has learned that due to hard training schedules and a natural desire to perform it’s important for athletes to be well cared for.

“Athletes are exposed to high levels of physical and mental stress. Mental health is very important as other factors, external to the track and field have the potential to influence athletes negatively. This includes being away from home, not always travelling with your coach and having less contact with your support network. In these instances, having someone to assist with mental coping mechanisms is important,” Mocke said.

He also said the importance of having a physiotherapist in the team is to avoid common injuries that athletes pick up during training.

“The last two trips that I travelled with [NPC] to Morocco and Italy we saw athletes picking up hamstring, groin and lumbar spine related injuries. Physiotherapists have the knowledge and ability to treat and manage injuries, implement rehabilitation exercises and assist with recovery,” he said adding that physiotherapists can also indicate to coaches what training and intensity is safe to do with the injured athlete.

Mocke said he is grateful to have seen very good outcomes from different interventions during his trip with the Para-athletes who had hamstring strains and acute severe low back pain, but it was managed in such a manner that the athletes could perform on the field the next day instead of withdrawing.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Close to 600 young people from the Kavango West Region have been recruited as casual workers to clear a 20-hectare plot at Nkurenkuru for the construction of a stadium and a multipurpose youth centre.

Speaking to Nampa on Thursday, Regional Youth Officer Anna-Marie Kasela said the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service (MSYNS) decided to ensure local youth are employed in contributing to the process.

“The young people are being paid N.dollars 116 per day each for 15 days. For the 2023/24 financial year, N.dollars 2 million was allocated for clearing as well as basic services such as water and electricity to be installed,” Kasela said.

She said an extra N.dollars 10 million was allocated for the construction of a football pitch, netball as well as volleyball courts.

Kasela said the unemployed youth will clear the piece of land after which bulldozers will be brought in to finish the work.

“This way the young people will be able to get something out of the project and buy themselves toiletries and food while some can start small businesses to empower themselves economically,” she stated.

Kasela says the high number of unemployed youth is of great concern, and called on other ministries to equally afford unskilled young people opportunities to earn through gainful employment where these arise.

Kasela called on other stakeholders to also consider young people for these kind of projects as they are the ones who need the money to stop them from indulging in harmful practices.

According to Kasela, the ministry fenced off the area already in 2018/19 after which the ministry halted the project due to a low budget ceiling allocated to the capital project.

Meanwhile, she said the young people will do the casual work in intervals up to 23 June, with earthwork done by machines to follow.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Namibian upcoming sprinter, Hatago Murere, has set his sight on reaching the qualifying standards for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games set for Paris, France.

The 23-year-old was recently crowned as the national 200 metre (m) champion at the Athletics Namibia National Championships held in Windhoek during April.

In an interview with Nampa on Saturday, the Otjwarongo-based athlete said 2023 has been a good year for him on the track but his biggest goal is to become the first male track and field athlete to emulate Frank Fredricks.

“Since Frank Fredricks retired from sprinting, the country has struggled to get male sprinters to qualify for the Olympics. Next year, Paris will be hosting the 2024 Olympic Games so I have set my goals to at least reach the qualification standards of that championship,” he said.

Murere, who recently ran his personal best of 20.74 seconds in the 200m sprint during the Athletics Namibia National Championships, added that to qualify for the Olympics means he must first do better at the African Games that will be held in Ghana in 2024.

“The Olympics qualifying standard in 200m is 20.16 seconds and my record is 20.74 seconds. If I keep working hard in the 200m, I can reach those times,” he said, adding that despite being hopeful of improving his time in the 200m, he has a long way to go with his 100m sprints.

The sprinter, who is making his maiden appearance as a guide for the Namibia Paralympic Committee team currently on a tour of the World Paralympic Athletics Grand Prix, stated that taking on the guide task is an experience he is enjoying and believes will improve him as an athlete.

“I know schooling is not my strongest point, I therefore pay all my attention to becoming a great athlete like Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse, who is my inspiration at the moment. I would one day like to win as many medals internationally as Frank Fredricks did,” he said.

Murere also said being crowned national champion in the 200m is not something he takes lightly and will fuel him to continue working hard so his teammate Gilbert Hainuca cannot usurp him, given that he is equally talented.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency