Para-athletes improving at every Grand Prix - Hamukwaya
Namibia Paralympic Committee (NPC) secretary general Michael Hamukwaya has applauded athletes for their performance at the recently concluded Athletics Namibia (AN) Grand Prix. The AN Grand Prix has so far taken place at Swakopmund and Oshakati.
In an interview with Nampa on Tuesday, Hamukwaya said the event at both towns was used by athletes to improve their rankings. “The first Grand Prix in Swakopmund was somehow good but the results were not that good, as some athletes were still not yet on top of their game because they were just returning from holiday,” he said.
He, however, said the second Grand Prix held in Oshakati over the weekend showed that athletes have improved and are on the right path.
“After the 2019 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World
Athletics Championships, Namibia only got one spot for the Paralympic Games but that might change by 23 April 2021, based on our athletes’ performance at this year’s events,” Hamukwaya said.
After competing at the Swakopmund AN Grand Prix, Lahja Ishitile, a T11 athlete, is ranked fourth in 100 metres (m) with a time of 13.92 seconds, while the fastest time for 2021 was registered by Angie Lizeth Pabon Mamian of Colombia in Tunisia earlier this month.
Pabon Mamian ran a time of 12.80 seconds in the T11 100m. Ishitile is currently ranked first in 200m with a time of 28.86. Johannes Nambala, who got Namibia their only spot at the 2021 Paralympic Games, is ranked sixth in the T13 100m with 11.53 and Jean Carlos Mina Aponza of Colombia is first with a time of 10.70.
In the 400m category, Nambala is ranked eighth with a time of 51.50 while Athmani Skander Djamil of Algeria ran the fastest time of 47.91 in Dubai this year. Other Namibian athletes finding themselves on the ranking are T46 athlete Bradley Murere, who is ranked 19th in 100m with a time of 12.31 in a category that is led by Jaydon Page of Australia who ran 11.10 seconds.
T37 athletes Johanna Benson is ranked seventh in the 200m with 33.33 in a category that is led by Sionnan Murphy of New Zealand. Another T37 athlete Petrus Karuli is ranked fifth in the 1500m with a time of 4:36.51 while F37 athlete Shihepo Simon is ranked 15th in Shot Put with a distance of 8.62m.
The NPC secretary general said they are still waiting for the Oshakati results to be loaded. Hamukwaya added that the support received from NamPower is really bearing fruit, as they are now able to buy athletes’ supplements, pay their transport as well as give coaches a bit of financial assistance even though it is not a lot.