WINDHOEK – Namibia will have two athletes at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships set for Beijing, China from 22 to 30 August.
They are long distance runner Beata Naigambo and 400 metre hurdles athlete Hardus Maritz.
Naigambo was the only athlete to qualify for the event while Maritz was entered as a wildcard, said Athletics Namibia Secretary-General, Frank Slabbert.
“The IAAF always allows associations to throw in a wildcard (athlete) and because we had a woman who qualified, we threw in a male wildcard,” he told Nampa on enquiry on Thursday.
Slabbert added that it will be a challenge, as for any athlete, to bring home medals.
“These guys are going to face the world’s best. But you never know, anything is possible in sports, so we will wait and see what will happen,” he said.
Asked about the five Namibian athletes who were sent to Jamaica to train, Slabbert said those athletes are in Swaziland participating in the police games there.
The five athletes have been in Jamaica since 2013 as part of a long-term training programme with the aim of improving Namibia’s chances of winning medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
They are training with Jamaican star athletes while also studying sports management and journalism at the University of Technology in Jamaica.
The athletes are Hitjivirue Kaanjuka (100m and 200m sprints), Globine Mayova (100m, 200m), Lelanie Klaasman (400m hurdles), Tjipekapora Herunga (400m), and Dantago Gurirab (200m).
Slabbert noted that the female athletes set a new national record in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:41.47 at the recent IAAF Relay Games in the Bahamas.
He also said Klaasman broke her own 400m hurdles record twice this year. – Nampa
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