Simon receives his medal

JOHANNES ‘Baluka’ Simon finally received his All-Africa Games bronze medal in Windhoek on Monday.

Simon reached the semi-finals of the flyweight category at the All-Africa Games in Algeria, before losing on points to an Algerian opponent. As a losing semi-finalist, Simon won a bronze medal – one of only three medals that Namibia won at the Games.Middle-distance athlete Agnes Samaria won Namibia’s other two medals – a silver in the 800m and a bronze medal in the 1 500m.Simon had to fly back to Namibia before the prize-giving ceremony and his medal was brought back later from Algeria.Simon said he was proud to have won a medal for his country as he had put in a lot of hard work for the Games.”I trained very hard for the All-Africa Games.I feel very good and I am honoured and proud to have won a medal for my country,” he told Namibia Sport.Simon, however, is unemployed and has appealed to the private sector to support him financially.Currently he is preparing for the World Boxing Championships in Chicago, United States in October, but is struggling to make ends meet.The general secretary of the Namibian Amateur Boxing Federation, Joe Kaperu, said that Simon had a good chance of winning a medal and qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games.”Simon is a top prospect but he needs to have proper preparation and we are running out of time.We are appealing to the private sector to assist Simon, who is currently unemployed,” Kaperu said.Kaperu said they planned to send five boxers to the World Championships in Chicago, which will serve as the official qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games.Kaperu said that the top eight boxers in each weight category stood a chance of qualifying for the Olympics, and he was hopeful that Namibia would do well.”If they receive the proper preparation, we don’t need to stand back for anyone in the world,” he said.www.namibiasport.com.naAs a losing semi-finalist, Simon won a bronze medal – one of only three medals that Namibia won at the Games.Middle-distance athlete Agnes Samaria won Namibia’s other two medals – a silver in the 800m and a bronze medal in the 1 500m.Simon had to fly back to Namibia before the prize-giving ceremony and his medal was brought back later from Algeria.Simon said he was proud to have won a medal for his country as he had put in a lot of hard work for the Games.”I trained very hard for the All-Africa Games.I feel very good and I am honoured and proud to have won a medal for my country,” he told Namibia Sport.Simon, however, is unemployed and has appealed to the private sector to support him financially.Currently he is preparing for the World Boxing Championships in Chicago, United States in October, but is struggling to make ends meet.The general secretary of the Namibian Amateur Boxing Federation, Joe Kaperu, said that Simon had a good chance of winning a medal and qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games.”Simon is a top prospect but he needs to have proper preparation and we are running out of time.We are appealing to the private sector to assist Simon, who is currently unemployed,” Kaperu said.Kaperu said they planned to send five boxers to the World Championships in Chicago, which will serve as the official qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games.Kaperu said that the top eight boxers in each weight category stood a chance of qualifying for the Olympics, and he was hopeful that Namibia would do well.”If they receive the proper preparation, we don’t need to stand back for anyone in the world,” he said.www.namibiasport.com.na