Johannes Nambala and Ananias Shikongo progressed to the finals of their respective events at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday.
Nambala, who competes in the T13 category, finished second in the 400 metre (m) race with a seasonal best of 49.37 seconds, behind defending champion Mohamed Amguoun of Morocco, who ran a seasonal best time of 48.52 seconds.
Shikongo and his guide Even Tjiuiju, meanwhile, qualified for the final of the T11 100m after coming second, to add to the 400m silver medal they have already won at the same competition.
Their time of 11.33 seconds in heat two of the semi-finals was the fourth fastest time in both heats and therefore they progressed to the final. The fastest time of the heats was clocked by Greece’s Athanasios Ghavelas and his guide Sotirios Gkaragkanis, who won heat two with a time of 10.99 seconds.
In an interview with Nampa after the race, Shikongo said being in the final is every athlete’s dream.
“I don’t want to promise anything but if you are in the final your job is to run for a medal and at this stage, whatever colour of the medal that comes, I will accept it,” he said, adding that their performance at the competition should serve as encouragement for people with disabilities to start joining the sport of athletics.
Team Namibia will continue with their activities on Thursday morning, when Nambala will compete in the final of the T13 400m at 03h54 local time.
Lahja Ishitile, who started her competition last week with T11 long jump and 400m, will resume her competition at 04h18 with round one of the T11 200m sprint.
Shikongo’s T11 100m final will only be held during the evening session at the Olympic Stadium, which will be 12h10 Namibian time.
Team Namibia returned with five medals – one gold, two silver and two bronze from the 2016 Paralympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where nine athletes represented the country.
At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games the country is represented by three athletes in track and field events, who have so far managed to account for a single silver medal.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency
