Agnes in doubt for Commonwealth Games

NAMIBIA’S medal hopeful Agnes Samaria’s participation at the Commonwealth Games is uncertain after she revealed that she recently suffered a stress fracture in her right foot.

Samaria, who has been training in Windhoek at the Olympic-size swimming pool in Olympia, yesterday revealed that she will need at least four to six weeks to heal the injury, which she said occurred after heavy training. The 2006 Commonwealth Games will start on March 15 in Melbourne, Australia and Samaria is the only athlete who will represent Namibia on the track, after several other failed to reach the qualifying times, while Athletics Namibia also failed to submit names of potential athletes for accreditation in time.”During the past week I have been training at the pool to keep fit and strong.Training in the pool does not put pressure on the foot, but is very hard and tiresome,” she said.She said during the next two weeks, she will be resting under her doctor’s supervision.”I will do my utmost best, although it will be very difficult, to get ready for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne,” she said.Samaria, who has also been suffering from an Achilles-tendon injury since last year, said she would request the Namibia National Olympic committee to book her on a later flight, at least five days before the Games get underway.”It will give me more recuperation time and I will be able to benefit from staying longer at high altitude, which is important for middle-distance athletes,” she said.Samaria, who usually opens her season on the Indoor European circuit, did not take part in any of the races this year, but instead concentrated on recovering from the Achilles injury to take on her opponents at the Commonwealth Games.”This year I skipped the European Indoor season so that I could commit myself fully to the preparations for the Games in trying to get the gold after my bronze medal in 2003.It was my intention to run two races in South Africa at the end of the month as part of my preparations.Unfortunately, I had to cancel these.I will run a time trial a week before the games to measure my fitness and readiness and thereafter make my final decision,” she said.Meanwhile, athletes who were vying for qualification to the Commonwealth Games at a meet held in Windhoek over the weekend, did not produce the required results.The only athlete who stood a chance of making it into the team before the last submission is made by February 15 was Hitjivirue Kaanjuka, but he too failed to meet qualifying standards.The athletes did not get the opportunity to qualify ahead of time, and the last-minute organisation of the weekend’s meet by Athletics Namibia gave them little time to prepare.Athletics Namibia left it too late for athletes to qualify for the Commonwealth Games and its leadership was called in by Sport Minister John Mutorwa last week.The athletics bosses were asked to clean up their act, since several positions on the body remain vacant while the communications channels between the executive and the regions remain poor.Mutorwa urged the AN leadership to convene a special congress to resolve all the problems that have contributed to the poor performances of Namibian athletes on the local and international scene.Namibia will be represented by eight sport codes at the Commonwealth Games, with smaller codes such as bowling, gymnastics, cycling and shooting now surpassing athletics, which used to send the largest team to the Games in the past.The era of brilliance on the track for Namibian athletics went into a slump with the retirement of Namibian sprinting maestro Frank Fredericks after the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.The 2006 Commonwealth Games will start on March 15 in Melbourne, Australia and Samaria is the only athlete who will represent Namibia on the track, after several other failed to reach the qualifying times, while Athletics Namibia also failed to submit names of potential athletes for accreditation in time.”During the past week I have been training at the pool to keep fit and strong.Training in the pool does not put pressure on the foot, but is very hard and tiresome,” she said.She said during the next two weeks, she will be resting under her doctor’s supervision.”I will do my utmost best, although it will be very difficult, to get ready for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne,” she said.Samaria, who has also been suffering from an Achilles-tendon injury since last year, said she would request the Namibia National Olympic committee to book her on a later flight, at least five days before the Games get underway.”It will give me more recuperation time and I will be able to benefit from staying longer at high altitude, which is important for middle-distance athletes,” she said.Samaria, who usually opens her season on the Indoor European circuit, did not take part in any of the races this year, but instead concentrated on recovering from the Achilles injury to take on her opponents at the Commonwealth Games.”This year I skipped the European Indoor season so that I could commit myself fully to the preparations for the Games in trying to get the gold after my bronze medal in 2003.It was my intention to run two races in South Africa at the end of the month as part of my preparations.Unfortunately, I had to cancel these.I will run a time trial a week before the games to measure my fitness and readiness and thereafter make my final decision,” she said.Meanwhile, athletes who were vying for qualification to the Commonwealth Games at a meet held in Windhoek over the weekend, did not produce the required results.The only athlete who stood a chance of making it into the team before the last submission is made by February 15 was Hitjivirue Kaanjuka, but he too failed to meet qualifying standards.The athletes did not get the opportunity to qualify ahead of time, and the last-minute organisation of the weekend’s meet by Athletics Namibia gave them little time to prepare.Athletics Namibia left it too late for athletes to qualify for the Commonwealth Games and its leadership was called in by Sport Minister John Mutorwa last week.The athletics bosses were asked to clean up their act, since several positions on the body remain vacant while the communications channels between the executive and the regions remain poor.Mutorwa urged the AN leadership to convene a special congress to resolve all the problems that have contributed to the poor performances of Namibian athletes on the local and international scene.Namibia will be represented by eight sport codes at the Commonwealth Games, with smaller codes such as bowling, gymnastics, cycling and shooting now surpassing athletics, which used to send the largest team to the Games in the past.The era of brilliance on the track for Namibian athletics went into a slump with the retirement of Namibian sprinting maestro Frank Fredericks after the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.