Athletics

Windhoek Afrikaanse Privaat Skool (WAP) was the overall winner of the Coca-Cola Private Schools Athletics Meeting that took place over the weekend.

WAP won a total of 72 medals, consisting of 29 gold, 25 silver and 18 bronze medals, followed by Elnatan Private School with 60 medals and Tsumeb Gymnasium with 43 medals.

A total of 21 private schools throughout Namibia competed in the event which was sponsored by Coca-Cola for the sixth consecutive year to an amount of N$45 000. Wimpy Namibia also sponsored N$40 000 for this year’s event.

Globine Mayova continued where she ended last year by showing top South African sprinters a clean pair of heels as she won both the 100m and 200m races, during the Athletics Gauteng North (AGN) Youth, Junior and Senior League meeting at the University of Pretoria sport stadium on Saturday.

Mayova won the 100m in a time of 11,75 and improved her own 200m national record from 23,39 to 23,34 seconds.

It was a great run, but it is still outside of the 23,30 needed to qualify for the IAAF World Championships later this year in Moscow. 

Middle distance runner Lavinia Haitope proved just why she is a force to be reckoned with when she was crowned as the senior women’s champion at the Confederation of African Athletics Southern Region (CAA SR) Cross Country Championships held on the March 2 in Maseru, Lesotho.

The event attracted 10 Southern African nations including the island of Seychelles.

Haitope who was up against fierce competition from top athletes in the region was pleased with her performance.

A Namibian athletics team of ten athletes and five disabled athletes left for South Africa on Tuesday on a two-month training camp as part of the Vision 2016 project.

In South Africa, the athletes will compete at various club and regional events against stronger opposition with the aim of qualifying for major athletics events coming up later in the year like the World Athletics Championships in Moscow and the IPC World Championships in Lyon.

The Coca-Cola Athletics Top Ten Club Championships will take place for the 16th consecutive year on April 6.

Launching the event in Windhoek on Tuesday, the event organiser Quinton Steele Botes said that Coca-Cola had sponsored N$15 000 for the event which aims to find the top athletics club in Namibia.

“Each club will receive points based on the IAAF scoring system for their top five male and female athletes. Furthermore, they need to enter in five different events namely the sprints, middle distance, throwing, hurdles and jumping events to find the overall winner,” he said.

Namibian marathon athlete Helalia Johannes finished sixth in the women’s category of the Tokyo Marathon in Japan on Sunday.

Johannes completed the 42,2km event in a time of 2 hours 29 minutes 20 seconds which was well outside her Namibian record of 2:26:09 that she set at the London Olympic Games last year.

Aberu Kebede of Ethiopia followed up her Berlin Marathon success to win the women’s event in 2:25:34, followed by compatriot Yeshi Esayias (2:26:01) and Irina Mikitenko of Germany (2:26:41).

Athletics Namibia president Frank Fredericks described last weekend’s Bank Windhoek National Track and Field Championships as one of the best ever since Namibia’s Independence.

“It was probably one of the best ever national championships that we have had. The athletes have realised that it’s critical to try and qualify earlier rather than later for major events like the world championships, and I am really happy that they came to the show,” he said.

Globine Mayova led the way at the Bank Windhoek National Athletics Championships over the weekend with a brilliant 200m run on Friday evening.

Despite the wet track after it had rained earlier, Mayova burnt up the track to equal her Namibian record of 23,39 seconds.

Tjipe Herunga came second in 24,38 and Merlyn Diamond third in 24,66.

On Saturday she completed the double when she won the 100m in 11,84 seconds. Merlyn Diamond came second in 12,25 and Lena Noreses third in 12,62.

Hitjiverue Kaanjuka also won the double in fine style.

This weekend will see Namibia’s finest athletes compete at the Senior National Track and Field Championships as well as the Cross Country Championships.

The weekend dubbed as “A weekend of National Championships” is one of the highlights in Athletics Namibia’s calendar and will mark the final local qualifying competition for participation at international competitions.

Bank Windhoek National Track & Field Championships:

Paulus Iyambo, who won the Rossing Namibia Marathon Championships on Saturday, won the event in the fastest time over the past 20 years.

The Namibia Defence Force athlete completed the 42,2km event in a time of 2 hours 18 minutes 16 seconds.

Iyambo’s NDF team mate Simon Shipingana came second in 2:20:21 while another NDF athlete Reonard Namupala came third in 2:20:41.

It was the second year in a row that Iyambo had won the event, although it was much faster than his winning time of 2:23:04 in 2012.