Athletes qualify for Biathle Championships

Nineteen athletes have qualified to represent Namibia at the 2012 World Biathle Championships to be held in Dubai on November 3.

The athletes qualified in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on June 23 at the South Africa Biathle Championships.

South Africa hosted the championships because this is Namibia’s first effort to qualify athletes for international competition.

Biathle is a short but intense run-swim-run event that was introduced to Namibia this year as a stepping-stone to modern pentathlon.

Athletes are required to run distances ranging from 500 metres to 1 500m, then swim 50m to 200m meters, and then run the same distance again, depending on age group.

The full modern pentathlon, an Olympic sport since 1912, involves shooting, swimming, fencing, horse jumping and running.

Next year, the Namibia Modern Pentathlon Federation hopes to host a qualifier for the Youth Olympic Games for Pentathlon and a World Cup Biathle event for athletes from Botswana and South Africa.

Athletes who qualified are:

A Team

Youth E Girls: Maja Borg
Youth D Boys: Andries van Veen and Albertus de Klerk
Youth D Girls: Elizabeth Rossouw, Tanya Mackensen and Ju-Ane Oberholzer
Youth C Girls: Nadia Brewis
Youth C Boys: Jaun Lamprecht
Youth B Boys: Jean Paul Burger
Youth A Boys: Christiaan Lamprecht
Junior Women: Ilke Preschel
Senior Women: Liza-Mari von Schauroth and Charmaine Shannon
Senior Men: Anton Swart
Master A Men: Thomas Brouns

B Team

Youth E Boys: Codie van Schalkwyk
Youth B Boys: Lushano Lamprecht

Master A Men: Hendrie Scheun and Wouter Rossouw

As a new organisation the Namibia Modern Pentathlon Federation is of course keen to accept support from companies who wish to sponsor the national team.

Interested organisations may contact NMPF president Anton Swart at ntnswrt@yahoo.com.
For more information on pentathlon, visit pentathlon.org; to learn more about Biathle in Namibia, visit biathle.org or Facebook.com/Namibia.Biathle.