SOME of Namibia’s top young sportsmen and women were awarded scholarships on Wednesday to help them prepare for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and the 2020 Olympic Games.
The president of the Namibia National Olympic Committee, Abner Xoagub announced that nine scholarships were awarded to assist athletes to attend qualification events to help them qualify for the Youth Olympic Games which will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 6 to 18 October.
A further seven scholarships were also awarded to make provision for senior Namibian athletes to train at high performance facilities to enable them to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
The scholarships were awarded under the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Solidarity programme.
The nine youth athletes are Adrian Grobler (archery), Sade de Sousa (athletics), Ivan Geldenhuys (athletics), Alex Miller (cycling), Nadine Fleming (equestrian sport), Lance Potgieter (gymnastics), Heleni Stergiadis (swimming), Ronan Wantenaar (swimming) and Hafeni Asino (wrestling).
The senior athletes who received scholarships to prepare them for the Toko Olympic Games are Maike Diekman (rowing), Jonas Junias (boxing), Matias Hamunyela (boxing), Tristan de Lange (cycling), Jean Paul Burger (triathlon), Nestori Thomas (boxing) and Tryagain Ndevelo (boxing).
The monetary value for the Tokyo 2020 scholarships amount to US$715 per month for each athlete, while N$5 500 per athlete has been granted to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games.
“Athletes were screened according to the international criteria set by Olympic Solidarity, that required individual athletes to practise at an international level in a sport included on the summer Olympics programme,” Xoagub said.
Other criteria required athletes to technically demonstrate and prove their potential to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, abide by the standards of sporting ethics as established by the Olympic Charter and the International Olympic Committee, abide by the World Anti-Doping Code and to have never been convicted of an anti-doping rule violation.
The secretary general of the NNOC, Joan Smit said that the Olympic Committee would closely monitor the progress and results of each athlete on a regular basis and reassess their suitability to the programme.
“As per the requirements set out by Olympic Solidarity, the NNOC is obligated to submit quarterly evaluation reports, providing a true account of the athlete’s progress and their chances of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Games,” she said.
Athletes are allowed to use the scholarships to fund attendance to training facilities, a specialised coach, regular medical and scientific assistance and control, insurance, boarding and lodging, pocket money, and limited travel costs for the athletes to participate in relevant Olympic qualification competitions.
The Olympic scholarships commenced on 1 September and will be renewed periodically, provided that the athletes qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Some of the international events coming up next year where athletes can qualify are the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, Australia from 4 to 15 April, and the African Youth Games in Algiers, Algeria from 17 to 27 July.
