NAMIBIA’s golden girls Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi lit up the track with some brilliant performances at the National Athletics Championships in Windhoek over the weekend.
There had been a lot of pressure on both after some great performances over the past few weeks, but they lived up to expectation as both set new national records with world class performances.
On Saturday, Mboma once again broke the 400m under 20 world record when she won the race in 49,22 seconds to shave 0,02 seconds off the 49,24 that she set in Lusaka last weekend.
Besides the fact that she broke her own u20 world record, she also once again produced the fastest time in the world this year.
It was an astonishing performance in far from perfect conditions, on a windy and overcast afternoon in Windhoek, with the rumbling of thunder and lightning threatening in the distance.
Mboma’s great rival Beatrice Masilingi got off to the better start and by the halfway mark held a lead of at least five metres.
Mboma turned on the power and by the time they entered the home straight there was nothing separating the two.
Mboma, however, had the strongest finish, pulling away from Masilingi with her long strides to win the race with a brilliant performance.
Masilingi came second in 50,05 seconds, which was close to her personal best of 49,53 that she set in Lusaka.
After the race Mboma said she was very excited about her performance.
"The race was super, I’m very excited and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t worry when Beatrice was leading in the beginning, because I knew I would catch up with her later,” she said.
Ï think I can still do better and I’ll just try my best at the Olympic Games,” the shy young prodigy said after the race.
Not to be outdone, Masilingi tore up the track yesterday to win the 200m final in a new national record of 22,38 seconds.
It was the fourth fastest time in the world this year, while it also improved her own national record of 22,72 that she set a week earlier in Lusaka.
After the race, Masilingi said she felt great.
"I feel awesome. I was working hard with my arms and legs till the end and executed my plan well,” she said.
"I think my Christian belief also helped. My coach and I had a prayer before the race, so I’m just glad it went so well,” she added.
Masilingi said she was also happy for Mboma’s success.
"I’m happy for Christine and also with my own performance, so everything is fine. Now I just hope for the best at the Olympic Games.”
Yesterday morning the two Grootfontein learners teamed up with Jolene Jacobs and Ane Rautenbach to break another national record in the 4x100m relay. They won the event in a great time of 44,78 seconds, which broke the previous record of 45,49 that was set in 2013.
In the men’s events, Ernst Narib did the double in the sprints, winning the 100m in 10,73 seconds and the 200m in 20,99 seconds, while Mahmad Bock won the 400m in 47,48, just pipping Ivan Danny Geldenhuys (47,72) to the line.
Vaino Ashuulu won the 800m in 1:52,10, while Dawid Dam won the 1 500m in 3:58,63 and Daniel Paulus the 5 000m in 14:24,88.
Davd Afrikaner won the triple jump in 14,05m, Andre Brand won the shot put in 11,31m, and Jasper Engelbrecht won the javelin in 59,20m.
Jolene Jacobs won the women’s 100m in 11,85 seconds; Salmi Nduviteko won the 1 500m in 4:51,87; Saara Shikongo won the 5 000m in 18:54,88; and Carien Oosthuizen won the 100m hurdles in 15,07 seconds.
