Eighteen-year-old sprinter, Christine Mboma, became the first Namibian female to win a medal at the Olympics when she finished second in the 200 metre (m) final in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday.

Since competing at the country’s first Olympics in 1992 in Barcelona, only Frank Fredericks has won silverware at the games for Namibia, earning his last medal in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympic Games.

Mboma came from behind to finish second in a time of 21.81 seconds in the 200m women’s final race to break Namibia’s 25-year Olympics medal drought.

The 21.81 seconds also broke her own World Under-20 record, African record and Namibia’s national record which she set on Monday when she competed in the semi-finals.

In the final, Elaine Thompson-Herah won the 200m sprint in 21.53 seconds which is a new Jamaican national record and her personal best, while Gabrielle Thomas of the United States of America won the bronze medal in 21.87 seconds.

Fellow Namibian sprinter Beatrice Masilingi, who also competed in the 200m race, finished in sixth position with a personal best of 22.28 seconds.

Namibia who had 11 athletes competing in five different sport codes at the ongoing Olympic Games now has two more athletes left who will compete in the men’s and women’s marathon, scheduled for 07 and 08 August 2021.

In her interview broadcast after the race, Mboma said it felt great to win a medal, noting it was completely unexpected.

“I came here for experience and I didn’t expect to win a medal, but it feels great to win because when I heard of the news that I could not compete in the 400m event at the Olympics, I decided to focus on the 200m. I am happy to take the medal to the Land of the Brave,” the teenager said.

Mboma and Masilingi were in July barred from competing in the 400m event by World Athletics, because of their natural testosterone levels being high.

Source: Namibia Press Agency