Another medal for Ishitile 

Lahja Ishitile sealed a successful campaign for Namibia at the Paris Paralympic Games with her second medal on Saturday evening. 

Following on her gold medal in the women’s T11 400m final on 31 August, Ishitile claimed the bronze medal in the T11 200m on Saturday evening whens he finished third in 25,04 seconds. 

Ishitile and her guide Sem Shimanda got off to a steady start but at the 100m bend they were lying third, well behind Liu and Geber dos Santos. Ishitile, however, finished strongly down the home straight, closing the gap on the leaders but it was not enough as she had to settle for third place, with Geber dos Santos winning gold in 24,51 which equalled the Paralympic Games record, while the world record holder Liu had to settle for silver in 24,86. 

Ishitile’s time was slightly outside her personal best and African record time of 24,82 seconds that she set in her first round heat on Thursday. 

By claiming gold and bronze, Ishitile now joins the illustrious list of Namibian para-athletes who have medalled at the Paralympic Games.

Johanna Benson was the torch bearer, winning gold and silver at the 2012 London Paralympics; Ananias Shikongo won one gold and two bronze medals at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, as well as a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics; and Johannes Nambala won two silver medals at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and one bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics. 

For Shikongo and Nambala, however, it is the first time in eight years that they have not medalled at the Paralympic Games, although both came very close. 

On Thursday evening, Shikongo finished fourth in the men’s T11 100m final in 11,17 seconds, just 0,09 seconds behind Dongdong Di of China who claimed the bronze medal in 11,08. Athanasios Ghavelas of Greece won gold in 11,02 seconds, while Timothee Adolphe of France won silver in 11,05.

Nambala, meanwhile, came even closer to a medal, after missing out by 0,06 seconds in the men’s 400m T13 final on Thursday. 

Skander Athmani of Algeria won gold in 47,43, while Ryota Fukunaga of Japan won silver in 48,07, and Buinder Bermudez Villar of Colombia bronze in 48,83 seconds. 

Nambala did his best to claim the bronze medal, even lunging to the line, but had to settle for fourth place in a season’s best time of 48,89, although it was some way off his pesonal best time of 47,21 seconds. 

For the 38-year-old Shikongo and 33-year-old Nambala, time is now running out, but Ishitile at 27 years of age is now just reaching her prime and the sky is the limit. After Saturday’s race she was delighted with her bronze medal and overall performance at Paris.

“I’m very happy that I have made it although its not a surprise to me, because I worked hard for this, so it’s not a surprise at all. I’m just happy that I made it and that I at last won two medals for my nation. It’s not only for myself, but for the whole nation and Im very proud of myself,” she said. 

“The fact that I improved in all of my events was also a massive step-up for me. I improved my times in the 100m, 200m and 400m so I’m very happy,” she added. 

Shimanda was also overjoyed. 

“I’m feeling very happy because this is the first time that Lahja has won the gold medal for the first time, while it is the third time since indepenence that we are bringing a gold medal home to Namibia. Today it was the bronze medal, but we are very happy,” he said. 

Ishitile, meanwhile, thanked the nation for it’s support. 

“Keep on supporting us guys, be behind us in spirit. Although you are not here physically, keep on supporting us, and we’ll keep on making you and the whole nation proud,” she said.