Miller wins second medal for Namibia at CWG

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Mountain bike rider, Alex Miller, won a second medal for Team Namibia after finishing third in the cross-country event at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday to claim bronze.

This is Namibia’s second medal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games after veteran marathon runner Helalia Johannes also won a bronze medal in her marathon event on Sunday.

On Wednesday in the men’s mountain bike event, Samuel Gaze of New Zealand successfully defended his title after beating his countryman Ben Oliver (second) and Miller to claim the top position on the podium.

The 21-year-old Namibian cyclist told Nampa after the race that he could not believe he made it to the podium after a long hard ride.

“I was trailing in sixth position most of the time but I knew this was a long race and I gradually started gaining momentum. In the last lap I gave it my all to overtake the riders in front of me to win a bronze medal,” he said.

He added that winning the medal is motivation for him to continue working hard.

“I never thought about winning it even though I knew it was possible. Winning this medal feels incredible,” Miller said.

Other Namibian riders who competed in the mountain bike event, Hugo Hahn and Xavier Papo, were lapped and therefore could not finish the race.

They were ranked 13th and 17th respectively out of the 26 riders who started the race.

Meanwhile, in the track and field events, T11 athlete Ananias Shikongo qualified for the final of the T11/12 100 metre (m) sprint after finishing second and advancing with the fastest time in the two heats that were held.

The 400m sprinters, Ivan Geldenhuys and Mahmad Bock, also qualified for the semi-finals of the 400m sprint, but Andre Retief once again narrowly missed the semi-finals spot as he did for the 400m hurdles on Tuesday.

At the boxing ring, Tryagain Morning Ndevelo lost his quarterfinal fight against Hussam Mohammed of India after four judges scored against him and only one judge scored in his favour.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency