T11 paralympic sprinters Ananias Shikongo (guided by Even Tjiuiju) and T13 athlete Johannes Nambala progressed to the final of the men’s 100 metres (m) and 400m respectively, after finishing second in their respective semi-finals at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) 2023 World Para Athletics Championships currently underway in Paris, France.
The semi-finals of the T11 100m and T13 400m were held on Friday evening at the Charlety Stadium, where over 1 300 athletes from 107 nations are competing for 168 medals.
First on the track was Nambala, who ran a seasonal best of 48.92 seconds to finish second behind Japanese sprinter Ryota Fukunaga, who ran an Asian record of 47.79 seconds.
Shikongo, who was the second T11 athlete to compete in the 100m semi-finals, also ran a seasonal best of 11.20 seconds but finished behind Greece’s world record holder, Athanasios Ghavelas, who set up a new championship record of 10.93 seconds.
His world record time is 10.82 seconds which he set in 2021 at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games that were held in Japan.
Another Namibian athlete that made the semi-finals of their events on Friday night was Lahja Ipinge, guided by Paulus Filippus, who ran a personal best of 12.91 seconds in the T12 100m to reach the semi-finals that will be held on Saturday morning.
Cuban sprinter and world record holder, Omara Durand, won the T12 100m heat with a seasonal best of 11.78 seconds.
Meanwhile, T11 sprinter Chris Kinda and guide Riwaldo Goagoseb failed to progress to the final of the T11 100m after finishing fourth in their race with a time of 11.46 seconds.
Only the winner of the T11 100m heats, as well as one of the fastest times from the three heats, advance to the final
After seven days of competition, Namibia has one medal. A silver that was won by Lahja Ishitile and guide Sem Shimanda in the T11 400m race.
The major international multi-sport event involves athletes with a range of disabilities and is governed by the International Paralympic Committee.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency