The Namibia Paralympic Committee (NPC) is sending a group of six athletes and one guide to the Winelands International slated for 26 February 2022 in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The one-day international event will see athletes from Commonwealth countries compete to improve their times ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games that will be held in Birmingham, England in July and August.

The Namibian athletes are Bradley Murere, Petrus Karuli, Johanna Benson, Martha Hitekalute, Roodley Gowaseb, Chris Kinda and Riwaldo Goagoseb (guide).

In an interview with Nampa on Wednesday, NPC secretary-general Michael Hamukwaya said these games are important as they form part of their preparation for the Commonwealth Games and the 2024 Paralympic Games.

“Taking part in this event will give much weight to our athletes’ results as there are more African countries that will be competing at the event,” he said.

He added that having the games at the start of the year is important because it helps the countries in improving on their qualifying rankings.

“Only the top eight African countries will qualify for the Commonwealth Games. Apart from qualifying as the NPC, we want to measure ourselves, we want to see at what level we are in terms of winning medals for the country with the current crop of young athletes that are in the team,” Hamukwaya said.

The secretary-general added that the NPC’s future is currently in the hands of upcoming young athletes who need to show the world they stand a chance of winning medals at World Champs and Paralympic Games.

“The athletes’ ranking will be assessed at the end of May and they will see who is ranked top and who is not because despite reaching the Commonwealth Games or World Para Athletics Championships standards, one needs to be active to improve their ranking or risk not qualifying for the games if their ranking drops for being inactive,” he said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency