ATHLETICS Namibia (AN) president Erwin Naimhwaka says the country needs to have a larger representation at the 2024 Olympic Games.
The global multi-sport championship will take place in Paris, France.
The national athletics body is working on organising regular competitions to identify prospects to be moulded into international calibre athletes.
Growing the number and improving the quality of representatives will enhance the country's chances of more podium finishes, he said.
But this can be attained only through hard work, discipline and investment, he cautioned.
“We will hopefully grow the number of the qualifiers compared to the number of athletes we had at the last Olympic Games,” Naimhwaka said in a recent interview with Desert Radio.
AN plans to double the annual grand prix series meetings and make the national athletic championship more enticing for competitors.
The top performers will then form part of a core group to be exposed regionally and internationally.
“The 2023 athletic calendar is an important year in terms of the 2024 Olympic Games qualification,” said Naimhwaka.
“AN is busy working on the 2023 calendar and I'm happy that we've a lot of the region and clubs coming up with competitions, which are providing platforms to identify the talent.”
Naimhwaka expressed satisfaction with the Namibian contingents' performances at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where flag-bearer Christine Mboma and Helalia Johannes each bagged bronze medals in athletics.
Mahmad Bock, Andre Retief, Daniel Paulus, Rainhold Thomas, Ivan Geldenhuys, Gilbert Hainuca, Ryan Williams and Alina Armas fell short of the podium.
“As AN president, I'm very happy that Namibia is now consistently on the medal table of the major athletic competitions,” he said.
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