AGNES Samaria was Namibia’s most decorated middle-distance female athlete during her heyday. The Otjiwarongo-born runner, who is best remembered for her silver medal in the 800 m at the 2002 African Championships in Tunisia, and a well-deserved third-place finish at the Commonwealth Games in the same year, has since retired from running.
The former Shifidi Secondary School teacher got married to Norwegian national Christian Vistnes on 29 November 2012, and the couple has since relocated to Norway, where they have been living with their daughter, Agnes Maria, for the past almost eight years.
Samaria-Vistnes says she is enjoying her cold summer in Norway, a country she is now calling her second home.
“I would say I’ve settled in very well, despite the fact that I really miss the warm weather of Namibia. I love it that things are so different . . . Norway is a very organised country; a lot of things function very well online, and people accept you as you are. As to coming back, that thought has not crossed my mind yet,” she says.
Samaria-Vistnes didn’t relinquish her teaching career completely as she works as a part-time teacher at a primary school, and is also an assistant coach at Overhalla Friidrettlag (Overhalle Athletics Club).
“. . . weekends I spend with my family and friends,” she says.
If the weather permits, she jogs after work, followed by a quick shower, before fetching little Agnes Maria from preschool and preparing dinner for her family.
Samaria-Vistnes’ daily routine ends with some playtime or activity with her daughter before she goes to bed.
Thereafter she watches television with her husband before they are also off to bed.
Her weekends include athletics training, visiting friends, entertaining her daughter’s playmates and Sunday Mass at church.
Samaria-Vistnes says life as a mother is a wonderful but challenging journey, as there is no textbook to guide one.
“Motherhood comes with challenges as well as successes, therefore I am grateful that being a teacher and an athlete taught me a lot about discipline and routine.
“Incorporating this into my daily lifestyle makes life so much easier. I only have one little princess, so that suits my lifestyle well,” she says.
Agnes Maria, who will turn five soon, takes after her mother because she loves athletics and tells her mom she wants to run the 800 m one day, but Samaria-Vistnes is trying to convince her to run the 400 m.
“Sometimes she challenges me to do a split or some stretching activity and if I am a little bit stiff, she really has fun with the fact that there are some things mommy can’t do. Then she tells me ‘Mommy, practise makes perfect, you must just practise’.”
She says her daughter, like her, does not get tired easily. Agnes Maria is naughty, smart, tough, challenging, suborn and very funny at the same time and Samaria-Vistnes really enjoys being with her, she says.
“My husband is very kind and supportive. So, when it comes to cultural differences, we have just decided to respect and listen to each other’s different thoughts and ideas. We have an open platform where we discuss and get an understanding of each other’s thoughts, and that makes our relationship work.
“These discussions can be very challenging at times, but our love for one another makes it work. Our challenges could include the way we want to raise our daughter, or topics such as being black and African in Norway,” Samaria-Vistnes says.
And is it a challenge going out with her family to malls or the park, and do they eat out a lot?
“No, not at all, I just sometimes mention to my husband that I am the only black lady here in the restaurant, but I love to make food at home and, thank God, my husband loves my cooking. We go out when we celebrate certain events or when we just want to spoil ourselves a little as a family.”
Samaria-Vistnes says she misses the gruelling training regiment and the track she was used to, and sometimes goes for a simple jog.
She says she remembers the days she could jog a kilometre under three minutes; now she barely keeps up with six minutes per kilometre.
“In my mind I tell myself what the heck, just enjoy the fact that you can still run. I still keep in shape by training with some athletes from my club, and I overdo the training load so that I can hardly walk the next day with sore knees. They are old injuries, and then I have to wait weeks until I can train again. I must admit I have developed a love for skiing,” she says.
Samaria-Vistnes says she is living her dream.
She says she has been keeping herself busy with the thought that she still wants to run the 400 m under one minute before she turns 50 – a personal challenge she hopes to realise soon.
Is this how she envisioned her life after athletics?
“In a way yes, but I must admit I miss the everyday training and travelling that came with athletics. Now it’s all about work, planning your holidays and when you are free from work. I simply don’t see a holiday alone without my husband and daughter.”
Samaria-Vistnes says the 800 m race at the 2002 Helsinki Grand Prix in Finland, which she won with an impressive time of 1.59.54 was her best race ever.
