National Athletics Champs finally arrive 

After several delays, Namibia’s National Senior Athletics Championships finally takes place at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium this weekend.

The event was originally supposed to take place in April but according to Athletics Namibia board member Henk Botha, it had to be postponed several times.

“With the passing of founding president Sam Nujoma, the athletics programme was affected so we postponed the national championships. But then there were also other delays with the stadium not being available and then winter came which is not a good time to run, so it was postponed till now,” he says.

With the late staging of the event, Namibian track and field athletes will now not be able to qualify for the World Athletics Championships (WAC) in Tokyo next month, with the deadline having passed last weekend, but none were really in contention, judging by the fastest times by Namibian athletes so far this season.

Namibia will, however, be represented in Tokyo by road athletes Alina Armas and Daniel Paulus who both qualified in the marathon earlier.

Elvis Gaseb produced the best performance of the year last month when he broke Mahmad Bock’s national 400m record of 45.80 with a time of 45.73, but that is well outside the WAC qualifying time of 44.85.

Gaseb, however, is one to watch for the future and, at the age of 22, his best years are still ahead of him. He will start as the firm favourite in the 400m, especially since two of his main rivals, Andre Retief and Danny Geldenhuys, withdrew.

Retief who has a personal best (PB) time of 46.43 seconds this season withdrew due to exams, while Geldenhuys, who has a PB of 46.48 this season, is injured.

Gaseb could also make an impact in the 100m and 200m sprints, although Elton Hoeseb will start as the favourite after setting the fastest times in both events this year.

In the 100m, Hoeseb has a season’s best of 10.39, followed by Gaseb (10.42) and Magano Naseb (10.53), while in the 200m, Hoeseb has a season’s best of 20.87, followed by Naseb (21.02), Charley Matundu (21.14) and Gaseb (21.17).

Another one to watch is hurdler Nicholis du Plessis (20), who set the year’s fastest 110m hurdles time of 14.75 seconds, which is not too far off Flip Bredenhann’s long-standing national record of 14.12.

David Dam should start as the favourite in the 800m with a season’s best time of 1:50.20, but Asser Nalukaku (1:52.27), Nasimane Shigwedha (1:54.12) and Matthew Angula (1:54.60) are also in the mix for honours.

The 1 500m could be a thriller with the top athletes this season, Nalukaku (3:55.57), Angula (3:57.83) and Wilhelm Hangula (3:58.27) all gold medal contenders.

In the field events, Ryan Williams will be one to watch with a season’s best of 58.95m in the discus, which is not too far off his national record of 61.15m, but national record holders Lionel Coetzee in the long jump and Cornelius Kuhn in the shot put will not be in action due to injury and personal reasons, respectively.

In the women’s sprints Jade Nangula will start as the favourite in both the 100m and 200m after her main rival, Ndawana Haitembu, withdrew due to studies.

In the 100m, Haitembu set the season’s fastest time of 11.66 followed by Nangula (11.78) and Erin Koff (12.29), while in the 200m, Haitembu leads the way with a time of 23.72, followed by Nangula (23.77), Beatrice Masilingi (23.91) and Christine Mboma (24.91).

Masilingi and Mboma will, however, miss the national championships after picking up new injuries. Mboma is struggling with a hamstring injury, while Masilingi has a strained hip flexor ligament. The athletes have been dogged by injury this year, according to Botha, and their performances were also adversely affected by medication they had to take to lower their testosterone levels.

“They have had a tough time this year – they went from hero to zero overnight so it’s not easy, but they have been working hard and are determined to come back stronger next season,” he says.

Another female athlete who could make an impact at the national championships is Marike Weitz, who has a season’s best of 45.27m in the discus, which is not too far off Charlene Engelbrecht’s national record of 49.98m.

The championships start at 14h30 today, continuing through till 19h30, and resume at 08h30 tomorrow, continuing through to 14h30.

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