Namibia’s participation at the African Athletics Championships in Nairobi, Kenya came to an end on Saturday, when none of the four athletes in action could make an impact in their events.
Namibian sprinters Hitjiverue Kaanjuka and Jesse Urikhob failed to make the 200m final, while Roger Haitengi finished well down the field in the men’s triple jump.
The 17-year-old Corlia Kruger, however, showed great potential as she finished sixth overall in the women’s pentathlon event.
Kaanjuka was Namibia’s best athlete on the day as he reached the 200m semifinals while he was ranked ninth overall after the first round heats.
Kaanjuka finished third in Heat 8 of the 200m in a time of 21,20 which was the ninth fastest overall time of the eight first round heats.
Kaanjuka was however eliminated in the semifinals when he came sixth in the second semifinal in a time of 21,35 seconds.
Jesse Urikhob was eliminated after the first round heats when he finished fifth in Heat 3 of the 200m in a time of 21,64 seconds.
Roger Haitengi was well below his best and finished tenth in the triple jump final with a distance of 15,55m. He stepped over the mark on his first jump, before clearing 15,27m with his second jump. On his third and final jump he reached a distance of 15,55m. This was well below his national record of 16,74m that he set in Windhoek on April 10, 2010.
The triple jump was won by Oke Tosin of Nigeria with a distance of 17,22m, while Hugo Mamba of Cameroon came second on 16,67m and Tumelo Thagane of South Africa third with 16,64m.
Corlia Kruger finished sixth in the women’s heptathlon event with a final score of 4 377 points.
Kruger’s best events were the 100m and 200m sprints and the high jump, as she achieved more than 700 points for all three events. She however struggled in the shot put and javelin throwing events and failed to reach 500 points in both events.
Margaret Simpson of Ghana won the women’s heptathlon with a score of 6 031 points, followed by Janet Wienand of South Africa (5 500) and Ts’oalei Selloane of Lesotho (5 302).
Namibian middle distance athlete Daniel Nghipandulwa failed to reach the final of the men’s 1 500m when he finished 10th in Heat One in a time of 3:55,82.
This put him 21st overall out of the 24 athletes who completed the heats of the 1 500m.
Asbel Kiprop of Kenya won the men’s 1 500m in a new championship record of 3:36,19, followed by Amine Laalou of Morocco (3:36,38) and Gebremedhin Woldegirgis of Ethiopia (3:36,65).
Nghipandulwa had earlier reached the semifinals of the 800m where he finished fifth in his semifinal in a time of 1:50,35. On Wednesday, July 28, Nghipandulwa finished fourth in Heat 3 in a time of 1:52,12 to qualify for the semifinals.
Merlyn Diamond and Tjipekapora Herunga both failed to start in the women’s 200m event although they were both entered for it. Earlier in the competition Diamond also failed to start the women’s 100m, while Herunga finished sixth in Heat 1 of the women’s 400m in a time of 57,03 seconds.
Urikhob and Kaanjuka were both eliminated in the semifinals of the Men’s 100m sprint on July 28.
Urikhob finished third in Heat Two of the first round in a time of 10,84 to qualify for the semifinals, while Kaanjuka finished third in Heat Three in a time of 10,70 seconds.
Both athletes were however eliminated in the semifinals, with Urikhob finishing eighth in the first semifinal in 10,78 seconds, while Kaanjuka finished fifth in the second semifinal in 10,54 seconds.
Kaanjuka was ranked 17th and Urikhob 22nd out of 24 athletes who competed in the 100m.
Kenya was the overall winner of the championships with 10 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze medals. Nigeria came second with 8 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze medals, while South Africa came third with 6 gold, 7 silver and 6 bronze medals.