Namibia Sports Commission chief administrator, Freddy Mwiya, attributes Team Namibia’s overall success in the recently concluded Region 5 Youth Games to both the Para and Special Olympic athletes.
Namibia came second overall in the eleventh edition of the regional youth games held in both the capital Windhoek and Swakopmund.
Speaking to Desert FM recently, Mwiya said both the Para and Special Olympic athletes dominated their respective disciplines, adding to Team Namibia’s medal tally.
“It is something that Namibia as a country can be very proud of, their sterling performances.”
“We are very proud and that has demonstrated that we are inclusive in nature. All those athletes did very well and kudos to our athletes,” said Mwiya.
The Namibia National Paralympic Committee (NPC) unveiled the visually impaired athletics team for the Region 5 Youth Games at the Vineta Stadium at Swakopmund.
As part of the requirements for visually impaired athletes, the national classifiers conducted all medical checks during a thorough classification process.
The NPC announced on their Facebook page that it was about fair play and equal opportunity on the track.
“Team Namibia was also complimented on the successful hosting of the event, making history for the first time with us coming second overall.”
“We were as Team Namibia very strategic by nature, though Zimbabwe was causing us havoc in trying to overcome us on the medal table but we stood firm.”
Mwiya said Namibia capitalised on the areas they knew they were good at. “If you look at the disability sport, they were very strong, though South Africa gave us a run for our money.”
“Paralympic and Special Olympic dominance was something that will never go unnoticed and we will build on the performances shown by these athletes,” he stressed.
He said Team Namibia impressed and was well prepared. He also thanked the government, specifically the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture, for providing the necessary resources to make the event a success.
“The resources were needed to ensure that the international committee and my team had ample time to prepare Team Namibia. Come the day of delivery, we delivered as expected,” Mwiya said.
“We have already started with the podium performance programme for the planned Youth Olympic Games in Senegal next year and we have, with the assistance of the federations, identified 20 athletes to work with.
“The government has allocated N$7 million for the podium performance programme. We are going to work closely with the Namibia Olympic Committee for high performance preparation,” he added.
He said proper preparation is needed for the Junior African Games in Angola later this year as well as for the the Youth Olympic Games next year.
The database of the young athletes is intact and these athletes will ultimately represent Namibia at the 2027 Senior African Games in Egypt and eventually at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the United States.
“Our dream will be Los Angeles. It is the first time, to be honest with you, in the history of this country that we have a proper plan of action for Los Angeles,” said Mwiya.
“We learned from our performance at the Paris Olympic Games and with the current minister and her deputy, we have decided on a prudent plan for the 2028 Olympic Games.”
“The lessons learned from hosting the Region 5 Youth Games is to first and foremost capacitate our coaches and ensure they have the skills, because things are changing and they are no longer the same.”
He said federations need to travel and compete, and more opportunities need to be given so that athletes compete internationally more often to hone their skills.
The sport codes which were part of the Region 5 Youth Games will benefit from the equipment used during the games for their respective future competitions.
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