Namibian middle-distance runner David Dam won a bronze medal at his first international competition in Potchefstroom, South Africa on Wednesday.

The Namibian runner competed in the Athletics South Africa Grand Prix, where he clocked a personal best of one minute, 51 seconds and 43 tenths of a second (01:51:43) behind South African runner Kwena Matlala, who represented the University of Pretoria, and Matthew Burnett of Botswana.

Matlele clocked a time of 1:50:44 to win gold while Burnett was second with a time of 1:51:22.

In an interview with Nampa on Thursday, Dam’s coach Berthold Karumendu said competing in this event was good exposure for him.

“We competed in the B race because the A race is for the elite athletes who are currently running 1:45 in the 800m. We had athletes from Kenya, Botswana and the Czech Republic who are fast and completed the 800m in a time of 1:46 in the A race. At the moment what we are working on is for Dam to improve his time so that he can qualify to compete in the A race in the future, but we are not putting him under pressure,’ said Karumendu, who added that he communicated with a South African coach who will help them with endurance training for Dam.

The coach also added that the athlete will travel to Johannesburg on Saturday to compete in the 1 500m event at the Germiston Stadium.

“We are going to continue to work hard because Dam has recovered well from his run after an ice bath. All I am hoping for is for him to be calm and to not put a lot of pressure on him,” said Karumendu.

Dam’s final race on his South African tour will be on Wednesday, 13 April, at Germiston Stadium in the 800m event.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency