NAMIBIAN marathon runner Beata Naigambo qualified for the London 2012 Olympics when she finished seventh at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon in two hours 32 minutes and 10 seconds on Sunday in the Netherlands.
The Standard A Olympic qualifying time is 02.37.00 while the Standard B qualifying time is set at 2.43.00.Tiki Gelana from Ethiopia was the winner of the race in a record-breaking time of 02.22.08. Another Ethiopian, Eyerusalem Kuma, was second in a personal best time of 02.24.55 with Lornah Kiplagat from the Netherlands third with a time of 02.25.52.Gelana broke the course record that had stood for the past nine years. The previous record of 02.22.19 was set by another Ethiopian, Gete Wami in 2002.Naigambo was already quite a distance behind Gelana after 5km. The Ethiopian passed that distance in 17.13 while Naigambo was timed at 17.45. Gelana did the half-marathon in 01.11.34 while the Namibian clocked 01.15.09.Naigambo’s time was the second fastest by a Namibian woman after she set the national record at the Eindhoven Marathon in 2009 when she won it in 02.31.01.- namibiapsort.com.na
