The secret to Helalia’s success: Get up after you fall 

Born at Oshali village in the Oshana region, long-distance runner Helalia Johannes is undoubtedly the most decorated woman athlete in Namibia.

Apart from being the only Commonwealth Games women’s marathon gold medal winner, she is also a proud bronze medal winner at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.

In 2020, Johannes broke her own national marathon record by finishing third at the Valencia Marathon in Spain in an impressive time of 2:19:52.

By doing that, Namibia became the third African country after Kenya and Ethiopia, to break the 2:20 barrier in women’s marathon running.

Johannes has also been named the Namibia Sportswoman of the Year in 2006, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2019 and 2020, while she is a five-time Olympian.

Her 12th place finish at the 2012 London Olympics in England is considered a Namibian record.

Johannes, who grew up at Omuthiya village in Otjikoto region, was cut out for long-distance running as she started running the 1 500m and 5 000m items during her Grade 3 year at Oshiya Primary School.

“I never played netball like the other girls at school. I preferred playing football with the boys, but only during my primary school years.

“I was unbeaten by the time I went to Onehale Senior Secondary School, where I matriculated,” she says.

“I was a competitive girl on the track growing up, and the people I grew up with can attest to the fact that I always wanted to win. I was always first in my two events at my schools,” she says.

The slender runner was a dominant force on track when she came to Windhoek, where she first joined Sunshine Athletics Club, led by Alfa Kangueehi at the time.

Johannes claimed her first regional silver medal outside Namibia during the Africa Zone 6 Athletics Championships in Gaborone, Botswana, after she came second in the 5 000m in 1998.

BRIGHTEST MOMENT

“However, the brightest moment in the sport came when I made history by winning Namibia’s first women’s marathon gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2018. I was hoping to repeat that feat at the Athletics World Championships in Doha in 2019,” she says.

“Unfortunately, it was never going to be the case as I had to be content with a third-place finish to claim a bronze medal, which is no mean feat either.”

Johannes is thankful for switching to half-marathon and marathon races, because they require endurance rather than speed.

She was soon elevated to elite athlete status because of her very competitive and consistent edge on the international road running scene.

South Africa, particularly the Two Oceans and the Spar Grand Prix, seem to have been her favourite hunting grounds.

“I enjoyed myself more in the Two Oceans Half-Marathon in Cape Town, and I returned to Namibia with gold medals on five occasions,” she says.

“I also became the woman to beat at the Spar Grand Prix races. I would have fulfilled my childhood dream to claim a podium spot at the Olympic Games, but finishing among the top 20 is quite a remarkable achievement and I am happy with my 12th spot.”

Johannes holds the Two Oceans Half-Marathon women’s record of 1:10:29, which she set on 20 April 2019.

She broke her own previous record of 1:11:57 set in 2011 to win her fifth title.

The Spar Grand Prix South Africa is a premier annual 10km women’s road-running series across five cities (Cape Town, Durban, Tshwane, Gqeberha and Johannesburg).

By winning her first Spar Challenge race in Port Elizabeth in 2019, Johannes ran the fastest women’s 10km race South Africa has seen by finishing the race in 31.50 minutes and also set the new Namibian women’s record in the process.

The former World Championships bronze medallist is also a fifth consecutive Spar women’s 10km Challenge winner.

Her dominance was not only limited to Namibia, which was described as a great performance in the Republic of Ireland, to win the Dublin City Marathon for the second time in a time of 2:32:32 in 2016.

“I was elevated to an elite athlete in 2006. An elite athlete in World Athletics terms is a highly trained athlete that is competing at the highest national or international level,” she says.

“It seems being formally known as an elite athlete really drove me to compete above my own expectations. I was invited to prestigious events all over the world, including being the first-ever woman Namibian runner to compete at the coveted New York Marathon in the United States.”

The Namibian record holder in the 10km, 20km, half-marathon and marathon events, also clinched a bronze medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in England in 2022, another half-marathon bronze at the 2011 Maputo All-Africa Games in Mozambique.

Her fourth big-event bronze medal was earned in the marathon at the Military World Games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 2011.

There is no doubt that Johannes, who made her international debut at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Saint-Galmier, in France, where she finished 80th, worked her socks off to become one of the world’s most sought-after athletes at top international events.

The one-time Namibian Sports Achiever of the Year became a platinum athlete after winning the 2019 Nagoya International Women’s Marathon in Japan.

WORK, FAMILY

Johannes has a son and is currently employed as an officer in the sport division of the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, with the rank of warrant officer 1.

“Most people probably don’t know that I had to relocate to South Africa after I was signed up by Harmony Gold Mining. They had an athletics club that took in top international athletes.

“I got my chance after I became a marathon runner and won my first Two Oceans Half-Marathon.

“I improved drastically after joining Harmony because they had a very professional set-up,” she says.

The southern African regional half-marathon record holder of 2:19 mentions her former coach Robert Kaxuxuena as one of the people with the biggest influence on her sport career – alongside her family and the Namibian Defence Force.

Johannes’ advice to aspiring athletes is to work hard, stay committed to their training, and remain focused on their dreams.

“To be successful you must have the ability to rise after you’ve fallen,” she says.

She says there is no replacement for discipline and perseverance.

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