Para-athletes look forward to AN Grand Prix

NampaNamibia Para-athletes are ready for the Athletics Namibia (AN) Grand Prix slated for tomorrow at Swakopmund.The grand prix, which will be the first event organised by AN this year, will be used by the athletes to improve their rankings ahead of the Paralympic Games that will be held in Tokyo, Japan, later in the year.In 2020, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) recognised the AN championship as a platform for athletes to gain points or qualify for major championships. Grabbing every chanceNamibia's T11 200 m gold medallist, Ananias Shikongo, said due to the Covid-19 pandemic, athletes are finding it hard to travel outside the country for competitions but they will use any competition at their disposal to improve their rankings. “We are now focusing on the local competitions this coming weekend that are organised by Athletics Namibia in Swakopmund to see how fit we are and how we can improve on our times,” he said about the grand prix that will also have legs in Rietfontein and Oshakati.“As a country, we currently have one spot at the Paralympic Games, which is putting us under pressure to run better times for more spots,” Shikongo said.Johannes Nambala, the only athlete to win silverware for Namibia at the 2019 IPC World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, said he was happy to have qualified for participation at the upcoming global competition, but that did not mean he would stop working hard. “I'm happy that I got the country the spot at the world championships but I'm not guaranteed a position in the team at the moment, that is why I'm working hard to improve my times as well as [to] reach qualifying times,” Nambala said.He added that he was happy to compete at home but it would have been better if they started travelling to other competitions where they could compete with international competitors.

Para-athletes look forward to AN Grand Prix

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-20

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Para-athletes look forward to AN Grand Prix

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-20

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