Olympians Christine Mboma, Beatrice Masilingi and fellow relay teammate Ndawana Haitembu were among the top performers at the Athletics Namibia (AN) Grand Prix competition which kicked off in Swakopmund on Saturday.
The three crossed the line first, second and third respectively in the women’s 100 meter race, with a time of 11:25 seconds (s) for Mboma, 11:37s for Masilingi and 12:32s for Haitembu.
It was Mboma’s first attempt at 100m, while Masilingi was way below her personal best of 11.20s, a Namibian national junior record.
In an interview with Nampa, the athletes expressed pride in their performances and vowed to do more this coming athletics season.
“This year, I am ready to compete at international level and give it my personal best,” Mboma said.
She noted that despite sports taking away precious time she could be spending with her family and friends, it is the career she chose to help her achieve her goals.
Haitembu, who was part of the women’s 4×100 relay team at the World Junior Championships in Kenya last year, felt this is a good start to her season.
“I am very proud of myself and I aim to work on improving my personal best as well as to qualify for international competitions, despite my hectic schedule,” Haitembu noted.
She was part of the UNAM Athletics Club’s 4×100 m women’s team that won the three-team race.
UNAM Athletics Club also topped the leader board with a combined team score of 94 points.
Athletics Namibia president, Erwin Naimhwaka, said he was satisfied with how the competition took place, as well as the turnout by the athletes and spectators.
A total of 17 clubs took part in the competition.
“We have clubs from all corners of the country, they gave quite great performances here today, so we are happy with this kick-off,” Naimwaka expressed.
The second leg of the competition will take place on 22 January in Windhoek, with the addition of the 200m, 800m, women’s 5000m and other field events.
Naimwaka added that besides the nine Grand Prix competitions planned for the year, there will be a lot of athletics activities taking place.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
