Historically Speaking Namibian Sprint Hero – Frank Fredericks

Ordinary people make history every day, and as a young country, it is best to know more about the historic figures that have shaped Namibia.

Frank Fredericks is Namibia’s first modern day sports star. Born on 2 October 1967 in Windhoek he attended Concordia College. After completing school, he progressed to Rossing Uranium where he underwent his first work experience.

Fredericks was awarded a scholarship in computer science and completed a masters programme in the United States in 1987, where his athletics career at university included many citations and three National Collegiate Athletic Association championships.

When Namibia became independent in 1990, Fredericks was allowed to compete on the international arena.

His first big chance at an international competition was at the Tokyo World Championships, where he came second to Michael Johnson in the 200 metre contest.

This led to his first gold at the Stuttgart World Championships in 1993 where he beat Carl Lewis and John Regis. At the same event he only achieved a fourth place finish.

He won countless medals in the 100 metre and 200 metre sprints, with four silvers at the Olympic Games in 1992 and 1996.

This made him Namibia’s only Olympic medallist at the time. Gold medals were collected at other championship meets which included the World Championships, World Indoor Championships, All-Africa Games and Commonwealth Games.

Fredericks is currently the world in-door record holder for the 200 metres, which was set in 1996 in a time of 19.92 seconds. In the same year, he also broke the in-door 100 metre record in Finland in 10.05 seconds.

Fredericks was also ranked number one in 1996 in both the 100 and 200 metres.

He holds other records such as breaking the 20 second barrier 24 times for the 200 metre discipline. He also holds the third fastest time (non-winning though) for the 200 metres. He ran 19.68 seconds in August 1996 in the Olympic final in Atlanta, United States.

Another record he holds is that he is the oldest man to have broken the 20 second barrier for the 200 metres. In July 2002 in Rome, Frankie Fredericks won the 200 metres in 19.99 seconds when he was 34 years old!

He retired after the 2004 outdoor season ended. After retiring, he became a member of the International Olympic Committee head of Athletics Namibia. Fredericks served on the IAAF as a council member.

Giving back to the Namibian athletics community has been his mainstay through the Frank Fredericks Foundation. Founded in 1999, the foundation is a way for him to thank the country for the loyal support he enjoyed, and to help develop future local talent for global competitions. The foundation also aims to provide a route for scholarships to these upcoming athletes.

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