Namibian para athletes competing in the 2022 World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Marrakech, Morocco banged in 10 medals on the opening day of the championships on Thursday.
The 2022 Sixth International Para Athletics Meeting is underway in the city of Marrakech, with over 41 countries competing for top honours from 15 to 17 September 2022 at the Marrakech Grand Stadium.
On the opening day of the championships, the Namibian team raked in 10 medals – four gold, one silver and five bronze.
The gold was won by Ananias Shikongo in the T11, 100 metres (m), Johannes Nambala in the T13 100m, Lahja Ipinge in the T12 women 100m and Roodley Gowaseb in the T54 men’s 1500m wheelchair race.
Bradley Murere won the only silver for Namibia in the T46 100m sprint.
Meanwhile, T11 female sprinter Lahja Ishitile, T37 male sprinter Petrus Karuli, T54 wheelchair racer Nico Kharuxab, F44 long jumper Denzel Namene, and F12 long jumper Michael Muyenga all won bronze medals.
In an interview with Nampa on Friday, Namibia Paralympic Committee (NPC) secretary general Michael Hamukwaya said the first day of the championship was a success.
“We had a very good day at the office yesterday. Winning 10 medals, especially from newcomers like Ipinge, means a lot to NPC,” he said.
Hamukwaya added that their goal of grooming young athletes is on the right track at the moment, but these athletes need to be kept busy.
“I am happy to see that the senior athletes are being good role models to these young ones who will one day take over from them when they retire,” said Hamukwaya.
He added that the time is now for corporate Namibia to help the athletes realise their dreams of competing internationally, as well as for the NPC to be allocated more slots at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
Namibia started day two of the Grand Prix ranked third on the medal standing. Brazil led the standings with 15 medals (nine gold, five silver and one bronze), while the Islamic Republic of Iran were second with eight medals, four gold, three silver and one bronze.
Tunisia was fourth with three gold medals, while Poland completed the top five positions with two gold medals.
Host Morocco was ranked sixth with 12 medals – one gold, six silver and five bronze.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
