ALGERIA were the overall winners of the athletics competition at the FASU Games, which ended at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium on Tuesday.
Algeria finished well ahead of the other competing nations with a total of 29 medals which consisted of 11 gold, 10 silver and eight bronze medals. Egypt were second with with seven gold and three silver medals, while Botswana came third with five gold, four silver and four bronze medals. Namibia could only claim fourth place with a total of 17 medals which consisted of four gold, five silver and eight bronze medals. They were followed by Ghana (two gold, five silver and three bronze medals), Zimbabwe (one gold, two silver and two bronze medals), Uganda (one gold and one bronze medal), Congo (one silver and one bronze medal) and Zambia (two bronze medals). Namibia’s team manager, Vilho Namufinda, said his team did not perform well.’We had a few good individual performances, but overall we didn’t do well. But our athletics season is only starting now so our athletes are not at their best,’ he said. Namufinda said it still relevant to hold the FASU Games despite the fact that several countries failed to turn up, including continental powerhouses like South Africa and Nigeria. ‘It has definitely been a worthwhile experience to stage the FASU Games in Namibia. If we can stage more competitions of this nature we can help grow a sporting culture here. Our athletes will also have something to aim for and their results will improve,’ he said. Namibia’s top performers were sprinter Merlyn Diamond, field athletes Charlene Engelbrecht and Petrus Swanepoel, and middle-distance athletes Lavinia Haitope and Daniel Nghipandulwa. Diamond won two gold medals in the women’s sprints, winning the 100m in 12,36 seconds and the 200m in 25,24 seconds. Engelbrecht, who had just returned from the Zone VI Youth Games in Lusaka where she won a silver medal, won gold in the women’s discus with a throw of 47,48m and a bronze medal in the shotput with a throw of 12,89m. Nghipandulwa won a gold medal in the men’s 1 500m in a time of 4:02,40 and a silver medal in the 800m in 1:51,70. Lavinia Haitope won a silver medal in the women’s 800m in a time of 2:13,42 and a silver medal in the 1 500m in 4:37,96. Petrus Swanepoel won a silver medal in the men’s shot put with a throw of 14,36m and a bronze medal in the discus with a distance of 36,61m. Ghanaian athletes dominated the men’s sprint events, winning all three medals in the 100m and two of the three medals in the 200m. Algerian athletes did well in the men and women’s middle distances and the women’s field events, while Algerian and Egyptian athletes dominated the men’s field events.
