Retired Namibian long-distance runner Luketz Swartbooi has called on athletes who qualified for the upcoming Olympics and Paralympic Games slated for Tokyo, Japan to focus on their training if they want to do well.
Swartbooi, who set the Rössing Marathon record in 1992 with a time of two hours, eleven minutes, and 23 seconds (2:11:23), said on Saturday that training is the biggest motivation for any athlete who wants to achieve better.
“You must always get your training right, especially the distance and the pace that is being done and if you get all this right, especially those running long distance which requires a lot of work, then you don’t have to be afraid of running against your competitors,” he said.
Swartbooi, who was one of the first athletes to represent Namibia at the 1992 Olympic Games, added that he is currently reading about young sprinter Beatrice Masilingi in the newspapers and is hopeful that if she and her teammate Christine Mboma stay focused, they will do well.
“I wish the athletes who qualified for the Olympics, especially the young athletes who are running good times, all the best. I hope they keep their focus and do well at the upcoming games,” he said.
The long-distance runner, who had a personal best of 2:09:08 which he set in 1994 when he finished third at the Boston Marathon in the United States of America, said long distance running is not easy as it requires a lot of input from an athlete and he is hopeful that Helalia Johannes who runs in this event will do well for Namibia at the Olympic Games.
The 1993 World Championships silver medallist also called on Government to start facilitating sponsorships through private entities, and making provision for more sponsorships to come on board for current athletes as well as retired ones who wish to start working as coaches.
“My record in long-distance running has been standing for almost 30 years now but records are meant to be broken and all this depends on the type of training athletes are putting in,” said the former athlete who stated that despite having all the talent in the world you will achieve nothing without money.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
