Nambala wins another medal at IPC World Champs

Namibian athlete Johannes Nambala on Wednesday won a bronze medal at the 2015 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Nambala first won gold in the 200-metre T13 category on Monday in a time of 21.74 seconds, setting an African record. On Wednesday night he won a bronze medal in the T13 400m race with a time of 48.68 seconds; his seasonal best over that distance. Amgoun Mohamed of Morocco won gold and set a new world record with a time of 47.83 and Sharov Egor of Russia came second with a time of 48.42 seconds, setting a new European record. Athletes in the T13 class have a visual impairment but can recognise curves and changes of direction from a distance of between two and six metres. Other Namibians in action on Wednesday were Johanna Benson, who finished seventh in the T37 women’s long jump final, while Ananias Shikongo qualified for the semi-finals of the T11 200m race, where he ran a time of 22.82 seconds. He then qualified for the final of the event by clocking 23.24 seconds to reach the final, which took place yesterday afternoon. Namibia is also represented by Reginald Benade; Elias Ndimulunde; Etchegaray Nguluwe; Lahja Ishitile; and Rosa Mandjoro. The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships is the seventh edition of the event and started on 21 October. It ends tomorrow. This year’s championships is the last major competition ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games set for September 07-18 next year. The IPC Athletics World Championships features around 1 300 athletes from 90 countries. During the 2013 World Championships held in Lyon, France, Namibia won one gold, two silver and four bronze medals. HESRON KAPANGA