Botha explains Masilingi’ s absence

JESSE JACKSON KAURAISAWINDHOEKBeatrice Masilingi and her coach, Henk Botha, will assess the situation with her left hamstring after it kept her from competing in Athletics Namibia’s Grand Prix at the Independence Stadium. Her coach decided to withdraw her from competing in the 200-metre race on Saturday.Her fans had been hoping to see her and fellow sprinter Christine Mboma in action in Windhoek. Mboma won the 200m race, clocking 22:30 seconds. “She [Masilingi] had a small tweak in her left hamstring on the lower side and I could not take the risk of letting her compete in this one,” Botha said.“She really wanted to run and was even at the stadium but we could not take that chance at all. I thought we would see how it would go on Friday during her last training before the race, but that did not happen because it was raining and that is why we did not asses it.“We are going to see on Monday how the young lady is doing,” Botha said.‘Nothing major’The coach believes that the problem is not serious and her fans should therefore not be worried.He said the fact that the tweak was not in the more complicated part of the hamstring reassured him that she would soon be able to run again.“It should not worry anyone because it was not on the upper side of the hamstring but the lower part. This makes it less complicated than if it had been in the upper hamstring.“We have so many international events we are looking forward to and that is why we can’t risk too much,” Botha said.Last year, Masilingi ran 49.53 seconds in the 400 metres, unofficially the third-fastest time in history run by an under-20 athlete.She also finished sixth in the women's 200 metres at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, having made the final along with fellow Namibian sprinter and eventual silver medallist Christine Mboma.The athlete took second place after running a time of 11:39 seconds at the Under-20 World Athletics Championship in Kenya last year.“We really do not even have to take part in these events but we just decided to do it for the Namibian people and fans because they were so eager to see them compete.“That is why it is important to make sure that both Beatrice and Cristine Mboma stay protected from any injuries or they avoid picking up serious injuries at events of such magnitude.“We are however still grateful for the opportunity we got to participate in this kind of event,” Botha said.

Botha explains Masilingi’ s absence

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Namibian Sun 2026-08-28

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Botha explains Masilingi’ s absence

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Namibian Sun 2026-08-28

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