Masilingi, Gaseb in action today
…as World U/20 Champs get underway
Tokyo Olympics women’s 200m finalist Beatrice Masilingi will today look to continue with her rich vein of form when Namibia gets her 2021 World Athletics U/20 Championships campaign underway in Nairobi, Kenya.
Masilingi stole international headlines at the recent Olympics when she finished sixth overall in a star-studded women’s 200m final with a new personal best of 22.28 seconds.
Currently boasting a personal best time of 11.38 seconds in the 100m event which she clocked last December, the athlete is expected to face tough competition, with the likes of Jamaica’s sprint sensations Tina Clayton and Serena Cole as well as Bahaman pair Lacarthea Cooper and Camille Rutherford all vying for top honours.
Clayton has a personal best time of 11.17 seconds in the 100m event and a personal best of 23.30 seconds in the 200m set last month and in April this year, while her compatriot Cole has a personal best of 11.42 seconds in the 100m race and a personal best of 24.40 seconds in the 200m event set in June and May this year.
Cooper brings stiff competition to the table with her personal best of 11.71 seconds in the 100m race and 24.09 seconds in the 200m distance, and both times were set this May and July. Rutherford holds a personal best of 11.27 seconds in the 100m and 23.22 seconds in the 200m event, both set in May this year.
Many other rising youngsters from across the world will be in contention in both the 100m and 200m races.
Masilingi will also be competing in the 200m race on Friday, alongside compatriot and Tokyo Olympics 200m silver medallist Christine Mboma.
Speaking to New Era Sport from Nairobi yesterday, their coach Henk Botha admitted that competition will be tough in Kenya as most of the world’s top young sprinters are in the lineup, but remained confident that Masilingi will give them a good run for their money.
“I think it is going to be tight, but I know she will take them on. Let’s wait and see how the race will go. As the saying goes, ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’. She had a good personal best time, so let’s see how it goes,” added Botha, who recently guided both teenagers to Olympics splendour in Japan.
Also in action today will be Namibian sprinter Elvis Gaseb, who will partake in the men’s 100m race, and will equally be out to make a gigantic arrival in the international athletics arena.
Gaseb’s time of 10.52 seconds set in April this year remains his personal best, which he looks set to improve on.
Commenting on Gaseb and the other athletes who are part of Team Namibia in Nairobi, Botha expressed full confidence in their form and ability, saying he worked with almost all of them, and was impressed with what he saw during preparations. “We had about three training sessions together, and things looked very promising.”
Team Namibia is represented by Masilingi 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay; Mboma 200m, 4x100m relay; Gaseb 100m; Ndawana Haitembu 4x100m relay; Carien Oosthuizen 4x100m relay and Nandi Vass 4x100m relay.