DEPUTY sports minister Agnes Tjongarero says the country’s athletes who were sent to Jamaica will be recalled soon after the ministry’s Vision 2016 athletics programme failed to yield the desired results.
Tjongarero told The Namibian Sport on Saturday that “they [athletes] did not qualify. It must be the end so that the next group who can qualify can be given a chance.”
The aim of the ill-fated project was to improve Namibia’s chances of winning medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
However, none of the 10 athletes sent to Jamaica in September 2013 made the grade for the Rio Games, a colossal failure that has reportedly cost the taxpayer over N$10 million.
Under the programme, the Namibians trained alongside Jamaican superstars Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and also enrolled for sports management and journalism courses at the University of Technology of Jamaica.
“You said it yourself that it is Vision 2016. We are in 2016. We cannot waste money. In life, nobody, unless God is on your side, gets seven to eight chances. You get one chance, and must take it. They must just come back,” she stressed.
Tjongarero said the ministry will also stop paying for the athletes’ studies.
“We are not an education ministry. We are the sports, youth and national service ministry. They must come back and apply to the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF) for a loan or bursary to continue their studies,” Tjongarero said.
Perhaps wary of more controversy following the recent protracted fall-out over star athlete Tjipekapora Herunga’s Olympic snub by the sports ministry and the Namibia National Olympic Committee, athletics coach Letu Hamhola, who was assigned to oversee the programme in Jamaica, said he was not aware of the intention to pull the plug on the athletes.
The athletes are Lilanne Klaasman, Herunga, Keshia Kalomo, Mberihonga Kandovazu, Globine Mayova, Gilbert Hainuca, Francis Uatema, Hitjivirue Kaanjuka, Jesse Uri-Khob and Adiel Van Wyk.
“Well, she [Tjongarero] knows something that I don’t, so I will wait until I have that information [to comment]. All the athletes are students, and no one is done,” Hamhola noted.
Having nonchalantly dismissed the failed international project, Tjongarero is already planning the next ‘development’ initiative, which she said will target schools.
“Our administration in sport is not the same as other countries. I have been watching the IAAF under-20 World Championships. I have not seen any Namibians there,” she said.
“It means other countries have already started to prepare for future major events. We don’t have [athletes] in the under-20s, so what do you expect in 2018 at the Commonwealth Games if we don’t have athletes at these junior championships? That is my only worry. If we can correct this as soon as possible, we’ll do wonders,” she explained.
“You must regularly have a feeding base. If you wait until these guys are finished, nothing will come out of it. We must start at the school level, that is where the problem is. I’m in the process of putting up something, where we will address all these things,” Tjongarero said.
However, she was optimistic that the country’s stars will be successful in Brazil.
“I always expect the best, but what we don’t know is the preparation of the others [rivals]. You know how you have prepared, your athletes are ready and you want something positive to happen, but it might be that the others have prepared better,” said Tjongarero.
