Namibian amateur boxers who participated in the 2023 Boxing Africa qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics will need to look to Italy or Thailand if they hope to secure any Olympic slots for their country.

Namibia fielded a team of four boxers at the 2023 African Olympic Boxing qualifiers, held in Dakar, Senegal from 09 to 16 September 2023, with the hope of clinching a gold medal and securing direct qualification for the Olympics.

Out of the four boxers, only Gerald Ipinge, who competes in the 80kg category, managed to secure a bronze medal for Namibia. However, this was insufficient to secure him a spot at the global event, as there were only seven available spots in the seven distinct weight classes in the men’s category, while two quotas were open for contention in the five different women’s weight classes.

Following six days of intense boxing action, 13 boxers earned gold medals at the African Olympic Boxing qualifying event in Dakar, Senegal.

A total of 18 quotas were up for grabs for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Algeria emerged as the most successful nation, securing five slots, while Nigeria, Egypt, and Morocco each obtained three Olympic quotas. DR Congo, Mozambique, Tunisia, and Zambia earned one place each for Paris 2024.

For African boxers who fell short of securing slots for themselves and their nations in Paris 2024, there will be opportunities to earn additional quotas during the first World Olympic Boxing qualifier scheduled to take place in Italy and the second World Olympic qualifier planned for Thailand next year.

The African Olympic Boxing qualifying event witnessed the participation of 41 countries, with 235 boxers competing across 13 weight classes. Morocco and Senegal boasted the largest delegations, each sending 13 boxers, while Benin, Burundi, Congo, Liberia, and Sudan had the smallest delegations, with one boxer each.

Namibia finished 15th in the medal standings, alongside Cape Verde, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Seychelles, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Uganda. Each of these countries secured one bronze medal.

Algeria topped the medal standings with nine medals, comprising four gold, two silver and three bronze.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency