Masilingi shatters Namibian record in Kenya

BEATRICE Masilingi announced her arrival on the international scene in stunning style when she won the women’s 400m at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on Saturday.

The 17-year-old Masilingi exploded out of the blocks to take the lead against a field of top-class senior athletes, and held onto it till the end to win the race in an exceptional time of 50,99 seconds.

She smashed her previous best time of 52,19 by more than a second, and with it also set a new Namibian record, breaking the eight-year-old mark of 51,24 set by Tjipekapora Herunga in Pretoria in 2012.

Besides that, it was the fourth fastest time in the world this year, while she also comfortably broke the 2021 Olympic Games qualifying time of 51,35 seconds.

Mary Moraa of Kenya came second, exactly a second behind in 51,99 while Leni Shida of Uganda came third in 52,76.

With her exceptional run, Masilingi has suddenly thrust herself onto the global stage, and having sent out a warning to the world’s top 400m athletes she could be a force to be reckoned with next year.

Masilingi’s coach Henk Botha said they just finalised her tactics shortly before the start of the race.

“We are so excited and privileged to be part of such an event. Beatrice and I were not sure what tactics to use, but just before the race we sat down and discussed it. I told her to start as if it’s a 100m sprint, and then to go into her stride once she’s got her rhythm, and then pull away over the last 150m.

“It worked out really well, because that’s precisely what she did and how the race unfolded,” he said.

“The other thing we said we were not worrying about times or records or places, we were just going to run as if we are at home, enjoying it and just doing our best. Obviously the idea was to get a good result, but if you are too focused on that it can backfire, so we were just focusing on enjoying the race and putting her talent on display,” he added.

Botha said Masilingi’s performance showed that she was a world class athlete.

“I’m so proud of the girl, she’s still humble, she’s still the young Beatrice from Rundu and I think things have just started to show that this is a world class person and a world class athlete.”

Masilingi first hit the headlines last year when she won two gold medals at the Senior Southern African Championships in Mauritius in the 400m with a time of 53,73 and the 200m with a time of 23,85 to qualify for the Africa Games in Rabat, Morocco. There she improved her time to 52,56, but could only finish seventh against Africa’s top athletes.

On 7 March this year, Masilingi improved her personal best time to 52,19 seconds at Swakopmund, which was the fastest u20 time in the world at the time.

Now with her record breaking performance in Nairobi, she has made her mark among the world’s top senior athletes, with only three other athletes having posted faster times this year.

They are Lynna Irby of the United States (50,50 seconds), Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas (50,52) and Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands (50,98).

Meanwhile, Ivan Danny Geldenhuys finished fifth in the men’s 400m in a time of 46,85 seconds at the same event.

The race was won by Jared Momanyi of Kenya in 46,11, followed by Emmanuel Ojeli of Nigeria (46,48) and Ryan William of Kenya (46,65).

Geldenhuys’ time was more than half a second off his personal best time of 46,29 that he set in Pretoria on 14 March this year.

At the time that was also the fastest u20 time in the world, but he has since dropped to fourth place in the world.

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