Namibian long jumper Stephan Louw failed to qualify for the finals at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany on Thursday. Competing in Group A of the first qualifying round, Louw finished 14th out of 23 athletes with a best effort of 7,74 metres.
Louw overstepped with his first jump and then cleared 7,74m and 7,69m with his next two efforts.
This was well outside the Namibian record of 8,24m that he set in Germiston, South Africa in January 2008. It was also outside his season’s best distance of 7,95m which he set in Praha, in the Czech Republic on June 8.
Only the top 12 athletes qualified for the final which will be held on Saturday.
Dwight Phillips of the United States set the best distance of 8,44m while South Africa’s Godfrey Mokoena set the third best distance of 8,29m.
Gable Garenomatse of Botswana also made the final, finishing 11th overall with a distance of 8,03m.
Namibia still have three athletes who will compete in the marathon events on the final two days of the Championships.
On Saturday, August 22, Reinhold Iita will compete in the men’s marathon, starting at 10h45 Namibian time.
On Sunday, August 23, Helalia Johannes and Beata Naigambo will compete in the women’s marathon, starting at 10h15 Namibian time.