Olympic hopefuls pressed for time

ATHLETICS Namibia president Alna Similo on Wednesday allayed fears that the country’s elite athletes based in Jamaica missed their chance for a spot at the Rio Olympics after they failed to pitch at the Africa Senior Championships which started in Durban, South Africa on Wednesday.

The championships, which double as the last Olympic qualifying event for athletes on African soil, run until Saturday.

A lack of funds to travel to South Africa for the continental competition have left the Olympic hopefuls marooned on the Caribbean island, where the majority have been based since 2013 as part of the Sport Ministry’s Vision 2016 programme.

The Olympic hopefuls in Jamaica are Tjipekapora Herunga, Globine Mayova, Lelanie Klaasman, Mberihonga Kandovazu, Keshia Kalomo, Hitjivirue Kaanjuka, Jesse Uri-Khob, Gilbert Hainuca, Adiel van Wyk and Francis Uatema.

“What I was informed is that they couldn’t travel because of financial constraints. We were supposed to have 33 athletes in Durban. On Sunday, 15 athletes based at home left by road, and were supposed to be joined by the others from Jamaica and South Africa,” Similo told The Namibian Sport.

With the 11 July deadline for qualification fast approaching, the athletes are running out of time and races to secure a ticket to Rio de Janeiro.

Add to that the stringent qualifying requirements from the Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC) which requires athletes to achieve the qualification standard twice, then there may be even fewer track and field representatives for Namibia in Brazil.

According to Similo, the Jamaican contingent may still have events where they can attain Olympic qualification in that country, whereas the home-based athletes will have to look to Europe, if resources permit, for a route to Rio.

“They have to qualify twice, and if they don’t make it in Durban, then it really becomes difficult for them. The ones in Jamaica might have events over there, but for those here at home, this one in Durban is where they need to meet the standard first. Then after that, we will try to send them to Europe for a second qualification.”

Poor relations between Athletics Namibia, the ministry of sport and the NNOC have led to a near-breakdown in communication, much to the misfortune of the athletes whose Olympic dreams may now be in jeopardy.

A case in point is that of 400m sprinter Herunga, whose qualification for the Olympics has AN and the NNOC at loggerheads, while the disheartened athlete suffers in silence.

She first met the standard at the 2015 All Africa Games, which was certified as a qualifier for the Olympics by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and then again in April in Jamaica, but the NNOC have asked her to do it for a third time.

Herunga is the only Namibian track athlete to have met the Olympic qualifying standards thus far. She and her compatriots were sent to Jamaica expressly to improve their performances and qualify for the Rio Olympics, given the Caribbean island’s rich history in producing top sprinters.

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