2009 was a watershed for Athletics Namibian as Alpha Kangueehi’s controversial reign as president finally came to an end. Kangueehi had presided over Namibian athletics for more than five years during which time sponsorships dried up while national track and field as well as cross-country championships steadily diminished.
His reign was finally ended by former world star athlete Frank Fredericks who won a unanimous vote in June to become the new president, after a first vote in November 2008 had ended in a drawn stalemate. In the ensuing seven months, athletics entered the political arena, as first the Namibia Sport Commission and then the world international body, the IAAF, stepped in to set the guidelines for a new dispensation.
Kangueehi did his best to cling on to power but between aborted court cases, illegal elections, the secondment of an international envoy and threats of international expulsion, Namibian athletics finally entered a new era, when all seven regions voted Fredericks in as AN’s new president on June 20.
Fredericks’ election brought new hope that Namibian athletes would start delivering on the track, but Namibia’s current crop were still a long way off the world class performances that Fredericks delivered in his heyday.
The year’s top performance came from marathon athlete Helalia Johannes who won
the Two Oceans Half Marathon in Cape Town in April, to win the title for the third time in four years.
Johannes and fellow marathon athletes Beata Naigambo and Reinhold Iita represented Namibia at the World Championships in Berlin, where Naigambo’s 24th place was the best.
While there was not much to savour amongst the seniors, there was some cause for optimism amongst the juniors, with budding stars like Strydom van der Wath, Hardus Maritz and Klaudia Moses making their mark at regional and continental level.
MARCH
Javelin thrower Strydom van der Wath was the star performer at the National Schools Athletics Championships in Windhoek when he shattered the Under 19 Namibian record with a new distance of 69,58m.. His total dominance was underlined by the fact that he finished more than 16 metres ahead of the second placed thrower.
Hurdler Hardus Maritz and middle distance athlete Klaudia Moses also caught the eye with some outstanding performances. Maritz won two gold medals, winning the 110m hurdles in 14,11 seconds and the 400m hurdles in 52,92 seconds, while Moses went one better, winning three gold medals in the 800m, 1 500m and 3 000m.
Her winning times in the 800m and 3 000m were well within the qualifying times for the World Youth Athletics Championships.
At the Coca Cola Frank Fredericks Invitational in April she once again won three gold medals in the 800m, 1 500m and 3 000m.
APRIL
Iita wins silver in North Korea
Reinhold Iita put in a great performance to finish second at the Mangyongdae Marathon which took place in North Korea.
In a sprint to the line, Iita was just pipped by Wang Ze Min of China who won the event in two hours 14 minutes and 21 seconds. Iita finished two seconds behind, with Jackson Rono of Kenya coming third in 2:14:37.
Johannes wins Two Oceans Half Marathon
Namibia’s ace road runner Helalia Johannes beat a field of more than 6 000 athletes to win the Two Oceans Half Marathon in Cape Town in a fast time of 1 hour 13 minutes and 34 seconds. Johannes led from the start to finish more than two minutes ahead of Mamarolla Tjoka of Lesotho, while Tabitha Tsatsa of Zimbabwe came third.
MAY
Namibia third at COSSASA Championships
Namibia finished third overall at the Confederation of Southern African School Sport Associations (COSSASA) Championships for Under 17 athletes, which took place in Pretoria, South Africa from May 1 to 3.
Namibia won a total of two silver and nine bronze medals to finish narrowly behind Botswana in third place. South Africa dominated the championships to finish well ahead in the medal stakes. They also established 20 new COSSASA records in the process.
Two new Namibia School Sport Union records were established. In the girls’ discus throw, Elizna Theron broke the previous record of 37,79m with a new distance of 39,51m, while Strydom van der Wath shattered the boys’ javelin throw record of 58,38m with a new distance of 64,85m.
Namibia’s two silver medallists were Michelle Pretorius with a height of 1,65m in the girls’ high jump and the Namibian girls’ 4x100m relay team.
The bronze medallists were Merlyn Diamond with a time of 59,52 seconds in the girls’ 400m, Danica Burmeister (1,55m in girls high jump), Elizna Theron (12,44m in the girls’ shot put), Elfie Potgieter (45,52m in the girls’ javelin), the Namibian girls’ 4x400m relay team, Alberto Mouton (13,59m in the boys’ triple jump), Strydom van der Wath (64,85m in the boys’ javelin), Cassie Muujo (54,94 seconds in the boys; 400m hurdles), and Jesse Urikhob (21,74 seconds in the boys’ 200m).
South Africa were the overall winners, followed by Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
JUNE
Athletics enters new era
Athletics Namibia entered a new era when Frank Fredericks was unanimously elected as its president at a Special Elective Congress in Otjiwarongo. All seven regions in attendance voted for Fredericks, while only the Oshikoto region failed to attend the congress which was also attended by the IAAF’s special representative Cheikh Thiarre. Fredericks’ resounding victory brought to an end the impasse that had surrounded Athletics Namibia since original elections on November 28, 2008 ended in a stalemate when former president Alpha Kangueehi and Fredericks both garnered four votes.
Namibia third in Botswana
A Namibian team of 24 athletes came third overall out of 11 participating countries at the Senior Southern Regional Athletics Championships in Gaborone, Botswana.
Namibia won two gold, five silver and six bronze medals to finish third overall behind the winners South Africa and the hosts Botswana. Namibia’s gold medallists were Hardus Maritz who won the 110m hurdles in 15,24 seconds and Rodger Haitengi who won the triple jump with a distance of 15,63m.
Moses shines in Tshwane
Klaudia Moses represented Namibia at the Southern African Region Youth Championships, in Tshwane in June, where she emerged as one of the star performers of the championships.
In the space of four hours, during the competition featuring 11 countries, Moses won gold medals in the 3 000m in 9:47,27, the 800m (2:12,27) and the 1 500m (4:37,00). She later anchored the Namibian medley relay team (100m, 200m, 300m, 400m) to win a bronze medal.
16-year-old Julia Handjene came second in the 800m behind Moses in a new personal best time of 2:12,86, which was well within the qualifying mark of 2:16,00 for the World Youth Championships in Italy in July.
JULY
At the World Youth Championships in Italy, Julia Handjene put in a great performance in her first round heat to come third in a new personal best time of 2:09,83 to qualify for the semifinals.
Her run at the World Championships came to an end when she came sixth in the semifinals in a time of 2:12,58, to place 14th overall amongst the top 16 junior athletes in the world.
Klaudia Moses also competed at the World Youth Championships, but her inexperience at the highest level counted against her as she failed to complete the girls’ 3 000m final. Moses got off to a fast start and tried to keep up with the Kenyan frontrunners. She however could not keep up the tempo and dropped out of the race after five laps.
AUGUST
Strydom van der Wath and Hardus Maritz were Namibia’s only medallists at the African Junior Athletics Championships in Mauritius.
In the boys javelin event, Van der Wath won the silver medal with a distance of 67,69m.
Maritz won two bronze medals in the 110m and 400m hurdles events.
He came third in the 400m hurdles in a new personal best time of 52,61 seconds, while he also came third in the 110m hurdles in 14,73 seconds.
Naigambo best in Berlin
Namibian marathon runners Beata Naigambo and Helalia Johannes finished 24th and 56th respectively in the women’s marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin. Naigambo completed the marathon in a new personal best time of 2 hours 33 minutes 5 seconds, but Johannes’ time of 2:50:19, was well below her personal best time of 2:32:30. Reinhold Iita dropped out of the men’s marathon after picking up an injury early in the race.
SEPTEMBER
Naitembu, Iipinge are Victory Race winners
Johannes Naitembu and Helena Iipinge each received N$10 000 after being crowned as the overall Men and Women’s winners of the Old Mutual Victory Races series.
Frans Hosea finished second overall in the men’s category to claim N$5 000 while Mynhard Kauanivi finished third overall to win N$2 500.
Beata Naigambo came second overall in the women’s category, to win N$5 000, while Otilie Aimwata won N$2 500 for coming third overall.
OCTOBER
Naigambo wins Eindhoven Marathon
Beata Naigambo produced an excellent performance on 11 October when she won the Eindhoven Marathon in Holland in a new Namibian record time of 2:31:01.
Naigambo showed great consistency and became stronger as the race progressed. She eventually finished 25 seconds ahead of Lydia Kurgat of Kenya, while Virginie Vandroogenbroeck of Belgium came third, well behind in 2:43:48.