Mboma to go up against top athletes

LIMBA MUPETAMIWINDHOEKWhen the Tokyo Olympic Games kick off in June, Namibia’s track-and-field athlete Christine Mboma will most likely go up against the likes of American Olympic gold medallist Allyson Felix.The 17-year-old Mboma is a rising star, and if her recent performances are not a fluke, she will cause an upset at the prestigious Games, maybe even beating the favourites.It is true that the young girl who hails from Shinyungwe in the Kavango East Region has not tasted the world stage yet and that she hasn’t gone up against the best in the world yet, so what she is capable of doing remains to be seen when she meets the likes of 35-year-old Felix, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Sha’Carri Richardson and Elaine Thompson.Felix is the only female track-and-field athlete to ever win six Olympic gold medals. Her main event is the 400 metres, but she has competed at the professional level in the 100, 200, as well as the 4x100 m and 4x400 m relays.Her best record time in the 200 m is 21.69 seconds. In the 400 m, her record stands at 49.26 seconds.Mboma, on the other hand, has a world under-20 record with 49.22 seconds in the 400 m. She set this record at the Independence Stadium recently, in the senior athletics championship. Prior to that she broke the world junior record at the All-Comers 400 m race in a time of 49.24 seconds, breaking the previous world record of 49.42 set by German athlete Grit Breuer in 1991.She said she looks up to Salwa Eid Naser, a Nigerian-born Bahraini sprinter who specialises in the 400 m and became the youngest-ever world champion in 2019 with a time of 48.14 seconds.“I look up to her. If she can do it, so can I,” said Mboma, who is coached by Henk Botha.Botha coincidenceBotha shares his surname with Ans Botha, who coached South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk to the country’s first Olympic gold after almost a century in 2017.“As far as Ans goes, I do not know her personally, but if you look at the two, you can see that they are very strategic in their planning and preparation,” Botha said.“Coaching is like a chess game; you need to plan and think ahead. You need to analyse your athlete’s opponents and managing your athlete’s well-being and mentality and she is definitely achieving this.“She changed athletics in South Africa, she showed aspiring athletes that it is possible too brush shoulders with the best in the world.“As far as Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi are concerned, we set targets and plans on how to reach Olympic targets. We believe as Namibians we can bring some joy back and hope in these difficult times,” he said.

Mboma to go up against top athletes

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Mboma to go up against top athletes

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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