Exciting action at athletics

THE first ever Grand Prix Athletics meeting at the Independence Stadium on Saturday provided for excellent performances for both Namibian and South African athletes who competed on the day.

Despite the non-participation of Namibia’s sprint ace, Frank Fredericks, the meeting attracted a large crowd that cheered the athletes on in their respective disciplines. Fredericks told The Namibian Sport that he did not feel well on the day and could thus not take part in both the 100 and 200 metre races.”I feel a bit sick and cannot run today,” he said, without elaborating further.South Africa’s Wendy Seegers, Morne Nagel and Llewellyn Herbert delivered great performances after they finished their races in emphatic style, to the delight of the spectators.Seegers came out tops in both the 100 and 200 metre events for women, leaving her opponents about ten metres behind in each of the races.Seegers beat Namibia’s Charmain Smith into second spot after clocking 11,30 second in the 100 metres, while she ended the 200m in 23,53 seconds.Smith finished the 100 metres in 12,35 seconds, followed by Gerda Engelbrecht (also Namibian) in third, who clocked 12,41 seconds.The promising Silba Tjingaete showed superiority over Smith in the 200 metres, ending in second spot behind Seegers in 25,33 seconds.Nagel produced a blistering 20,91 second in the 200 metre race for men, leaving Namibia’s sensational sprinters Frank Puriza and Chriswell de Wee in third and fourth spot respectively.In second place was South Africa’s C Gebhardt who clocked 21,61 seconds.Puriza (21,71 and de Wee (22,00) had the two South Africans in sight within the first 60 metres, but their counterparts had better ideas and enough power in their legs in the last 30 metres to the finish.South Africa’s 400 metre hurdle champion Llewellyn Herbert cut a piece of history for himself when he finished in a fast 51,88 seconds, about four seconds faster than the second placed Tertius Losper of Namibia, who crossed in 55,23 seconds.Another exceptional performances came from Namibia’s long distance maestro Willem Rooi, who showed his counterparts the finer art of consistency in the 5 000 metre race for men.Rooi kept the same pace from beginning to end when he came home in 14 minutes, 42,22 seconds.He was given a standing ovation by the spectators which in turn he thanked by bowing to them at least seven times as he faced each stand of the stadium.Rooi was followed Petrus Tuhafeni in 15 minutes 22,85 seconds, while Anson Maseko from Swaziland took the third spot in 15 minutes, 36,99 seconds.Namibia’s high jumper Hans von Lieres was outdone by South Africa’s Zieg Veuneman who reached 2,10 metres.Von Lieres could only manage 2.07 after several attempts to reach his opponents mark.Fredericks told The Namibian Sport that he did not feel well on the day and could thus not take part in both the 100 and 200 metre races.”I feel a bit sick and cannot run today,” he said, without elaborating further.South Africa’s Wendy Seegers, Morne Nagel and Llewellyn Herbert delivered great performances after they finished their races in emphatic style, to the delight of the spectators.Seegers came out tops in both the 100 and 200 metre events for women, leaving her opponents about ten metres behind in each of the races.Seegers beat Namibia’s Charmain Smith into second spot after clocking 11,30 second in the 100 metres, while she ended the 200m in 23,53 seconds.Smith finished the 100 metres in 12,35 seconds, followed by Gerda Engelbrecht (also Namibian) in third, who clocked 12,41 seconds.The promising Silba Tjingaete showed superiority over Smith in the 200 metres, ending in second spot behind Seegers in 25,33 seconds.Nagel produced a blistering 20,91 second in the 200 metre race for men, leaving Namibia’s sensational sprinters Frank Puriza and Chriswell de Wee in third and fourth spot respectively.In second place was South Africa’s C Gebhardt who clocked 21,61 seconds.Puriza (21,71 and de Wee (22,00) had the two South Africans in sight within the first 60 metres, but their counterparts had better ideas and enough power in their legs in the last 30 metres to the finish.South Africa’s 400 metre hurdle champion Llewellyn Herbert cut a piece of history for himself when he finished in a fast 51,88 seconds, about four seconds faster than the second placed Tertius Losper of Namibia, who crossed in 55,23 seconds.Another exceptional performances came from Namibia’s long distance maestro Willem Rooi, who showed his counterparts the finer art of consistency in the 5 000 metre race for men.Rooi kept the same pace from beginning to end when he came home in 14 minutes, 42,22 seconds.He was given a standing ovation by the spectators which in turn he thanked by bowing to them at least seven times as he faced each stand of the stadium.Rooi was followed Petrus Tuhafeni in 15 minutes 22,85 seconds, while Anson Maseko from Swaziland took the third spot in 15 minutes, 36,99 seconds.Namibia’s high jumper Hans von Lieres was outdone by South Africa’s Zieg Veuneman who reached 2,10 metres.Von Lieres could only manage 2.07 after several attempts to reach his opponents mark.