Johannes takes gold in China
LIMBA MUPETAMI
Road-running queen Helalia Johannes scooped gold on Thursday at the World Military Games in China in a time of 15:14:23.
Coming from the IAAF World Championships in Doha, where she took bronze, the in-form Helalia Johannes brushed aside competition from Winfred Yavi of Bahraini and Kimais Irene of Kenya to take first place.
Yavi finished the race in a time of 15:15:93 to take second place, whereas Irene finished in third in a time of 15:29:74.
“She is a phenomenal athlete and I’m proud of her,” said her coach, Robert Kaxuxuena. He further said that her hard work is being recognised and that they will keep pushing and working hard.
This year Johannes became the first Namibian in the marathon discipline to win bronze at the IAAF world championship.
But that’s not all. In 10 March, she won gold at the Nagoya Marathon in Japan, setting a Namibian record time of two hours, 22 minutes 25 seconds.
That time smashed her previous Namibian record time of 2:26:09 which she had set at the 2012 Olympic Games.
A month later, she won the Two Oceans Half Marathon in Cape Town, breaking her own long-standing record of 1:11:56 by more than a minute with a new time of 1:10:30.
Furthermore, Johannes went on with a record-breaking run in the Spar Women's Challenge 10km series in South Africa, winning all five legs of the competition in record times.
She now sets her eyes on Tokyo 2020 and hopes to return with a medal for Namibia.
Road-running queen Helalia Johannes scooped gold on Thursday at the World Military Games in China in a time of 15:14:23.
Coming from the IAAF World Championships in Doha, where she took bronze, the in-form Helalia Johannes brushed aside competition from Winfred Yavi of Bahraini and Kimais Irene of Kenya to take first place.
Yavi finished the race in a time of 15:15:93 to take second place, whereas Irene finished in third in a time of 15:29:74.
“She is a phenomenal athlete and I’m proud of her,” said her coach, Robert Kaxuxuena. He further said that her hard work is being recognised and that they will keep pushing and working hard.
This year Johannes became the first Namibian in the marathon discipline to win bronze at the IAAF world championship.
But that’s not all. In 10 March, she won gold at the Nagoya Marathon in Japan, setting a Namibian record time of two hours, 22 minutes 25 seconds.
That time smashed her previous Namibian record time of 2:26:09 which she had set at the 2012 Olympic Games.
A month later, she won the Two Oceans Half Marathon in Cape Town, breaking her own long-standing record of 1:11:56 by more than a minute with a new time of 1:10:30.
Furthermore, Johannes went on with a record-breaking run in the Spar Women's Challenge 10km series in South Africa, winning all five legs of the competition in record times.
She now sets her eyes on Tokyo 2020 and hopes to return with a medal for Namibia.
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