Fredericks sparks greatness

Fredericks looks back on decades of success The achievements of Namibia’s world record holder, former sprinter Frank Fredericks, started a sporting revolution, inspiring younger athletes to fly the country’s flag high.LIMBA MUPETAMIFrank Fredericks remains the true gentleman of sprinting, decades after his retirement.He once said after beating his rivals at the Melbourne Grand Prix in 1998: “As long as my competitors respect me when I step on the line, that’s fine.”In that race he clocked 20.55 and was followed home in second by one of his biggest rivals at that time, America’s Allen Johnson.Not one for extravagant celebrations or harsh words, the Namibian sprinter shaped the world of track and field with his soft-spoken nature, thus allowing his legs to do the talking.He consistently lined up alongside the best sprinters of his era, including America’s Carl Lewis, Trinidad and Tobago’s Ato Bolton, America’s Linford Christie, Dennis Mitchell and Michael Johnson.In 1996 at the Bislett Games, Johnson said that one can never have a bad start when running against Fredericks.The Namibian won the 200m race in a time of 19.82 to Johnson’s time of 19.85.However, even after having caused so many upsets, Fredericks remained forever humble. The Namibian would always smile, ask for the Namibian flag and continuously wave as photographers followed him after a performance.Always one to speak about where he came from and what this meant to the rest of Africa, Fredericks was always asked whether he received the respect he deserved.In 1998 at the Melbourne Grand Prix he said he didn’t get much marketing like the other athletes, but that it was okay as they respected him on the track.That attitude and his continuous effort to run better was always evident and bagged him multiple world titles and Olympic medals, making him a recognisable sportsman, not only in Namibia, but all over the world. He won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996). He also won gold medals at the world championships, world indoor championships, All-Africa Games and Commonwealth Games.Fredericks broke 20 seconds for the 200 metres 24 times. He smashed the 200m indoor world record in 1996 in Liévin, France with a time of 19.92, becoming the only man to ever run sub-20 seconds in the indoor event.The record still stands today.This is from a man who initially wanted to play football, before venturing into running.Distinguishing himself both on and off the track - Fredericks is the only Namibian to have served on the IAAF council.He has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was the head of Athletics Namibia until 2013.Over the years, the Namibian sprinter’s achievements have inspired a host of other local athletes, who despite being boxers, swimmers or cricketer, looked up to the star.“If Fredericks can break and set records so can I”, was the saying back then.A raft of Namibian athletes started rising or complementing Frederick’s achievements, bringing a brilliant plethora of sporting moments.Simon’s winning streakAthletes such as Harry Simon currently holds the longest undefeated streak in boxing history, with 31 wins, and is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBO junior middleweight title from 1998 to 2001 and the WBO middleweight title in 2002.Simon turned pro in 1994 and won the WBO light middleweight title in 1998 by defeating Winky Wright. The relatively unknown Simon caused one of the biggest upsets in boxing; with the fight controversially being awarded to Wright and then Simon being declared the winner after a recount. The fight was graced by the then prime minister and current president of Namibia, Hage Geingob.In May 1999 at the National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England, Simon again stepped into the ring to stop Kevin Lueshing in the third round, ending the latter’s boxing career.After the fight Lueshing said Simon was not a worthy middleweight contender, but the Namibian continued to show his greatness by defeating his opponents in the ring.A star of the marathonAnother athlete who continues to lift Namibian sport into the global spotlight is marathoner Helalia Johannes. She holds the Namibian records in the 10km, 20km, half-marathon and marathon events.She has won medals at the Military World Games, the All-Africa Games and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.She is a five-time winner of the Two Oceans Half Marathon and holds the current record of 01:10:29. In 2018 she won a Commonwealth gold medal and last year broke three Namibian records. She broke the Namibian marathon record to win the Nagoya Marathon in a time of 2:22:25.She then broke the Namibian half-marathon record in April at the Two Oceans Half Marathon record in Cape Town, running a winning time of 1:10:30.She then proceeded to break the 10km record in Port Elizabeth in a time of 31.50. In September, she achieved her greatest career landmark by earning a bronze medal at the athletics world championships. Johannes is currently gearing up for the 2020 Olympic Games.Our golden girlAnother female who has warmed Namibian hearts is Para-athlete Johanna Benson.At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London she won the women's 200m race in her classification. Her 200m success in London made her the first Paralympic gold medallist in Namibia's history.Later at the games, Benson won silver in the women's 100m T37. On her arrival back home she was given N$170 000 in cash for her medal haul, a house in Walvis Bay and a diplomatic passport by the government of Namibia.Nambala and ShikongoOther Paralympic sportsmen who took a leaf from Frederick’s book of success are Johannes Nambala and Ananias Shikongo. Nambala in 2013 became the first Namibian to win a gold medal at the IPC Athletics World Championships, when he won the 400m sprint in Lyon. Nambala has also won two silver Paralympic medals, both silver, and both won medals at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.Shikongo, who runs in the T11 category, won three medals in Rio, placing third in both the T11, 100m and 400m sprints and coming first in the T11 200m. He won the 200m in a Paralympic record time of 22.44 seconds. He is the third Namibian athlete to win a medal at a Paralympic competition.Other stars include boxer Julius Indongo, the former unified light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA, IBF, and IBO titles between 2016 and 2017.

Fredericks sparks greatness

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-03

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Fredericks sparks greatness

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-03

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