Athletes stake claim for recognition

A few athletes took full advantage of the absence of their more illustrious rivals to claim medals at the Bank Windhoek National Championships over the weekend. With some of the country’s top athletes like female sprinters, Globine Mayova and Tjipekapora Herunga and 100 m sprinter, Hitjivirue Kaanjuka all in Jamaica, where they are undergoing intensive training, it was left to other names to emerge. One of these was Desiree Kandovazu who showed her rivals at the event held at the Independence Stadium a clean pair of heels on the way to claiming gold medals in the 200 m and 400m dash. The athlete clocked 25.29 seconds in the 200 m, which was almost a second faster than the second placed Elrika Grobbelaar. She was even more dominant in the 400 m where she clocked a time of 56.67 seconds, almost two seconds ahead of Leandri van der Waldt, who clocked 58.42. Another athlete who shone on Saturday was the youthful Lena !Noreses, who claimed honours in the 100 m dash by beating Grobbelaar to the finish line in a time of 12.41. !Noreses, who has captained Namibia’s women’s under-20 national team, continues to juggle athletics with football and explained that it would be hard for her to choose between the two codes as “both lie close to my heart”. But she added that as for now her focus is on the CAF African Women’s Championship that will be hosted in Namibia later this year “That is my main focus for now and it for that competition that I will be training hard for,” she said. On the men’s side, Evan Tjiviu was one of the surprise winners as he produced a great finish to pip Jesse Urikhob to the line in the 200 m. The athlete, who is the guide of Paralympics sprinter, Ananias Shikongo, said that winning the gold medal in that event was a long time coming. “I have fought for this for the last three years now as I’m always second or third... But this year, I decided it was my time,” he said. “Going into the final 30 m, I saw him (Urikhob) ahead of me and I said ‘Why him and not me?’. That’s when I put on some extra gears and took the win. So I’m very happy.” Tjiviu, though, had to play second fiddle to Urikhob in the 100m as the latter put on the after burners to win the race in 10.42 seconds. Tjiviu clocked 10.60 in second spot, while Gilbert Hainuca came in third in 10.75. Successful defence Ernst Narib, meanwhile, successfully defended his 400 m title on his way to clocking 46.68 seconds, which was well clear of the second placed Johnson Tjenda, who had a time of 47.67. Despite winning, Narib expressed disappointment at not having the country’s best athletes at the event. “I’m undisputed now and I’ve defended my title successfully but the headlines will always say ‘in the absence of so and so’,” he said. “I think this event is meant for one to compete against the best in the country and today [Saturday] I was forced to basically pace myself as I had no competition.” Other winners during the event include Helalia Johannes, who won the 5000 m run, Stephanie van Wyk, who claimed honours in the women’s 100 m hurdles and Salomon Tuaire, who thrilled the crowd on his way to clearing 2.08 m in the men’s high jump.