Namibia’s T11 sprinters Ananias Shikongo and Chris Kinda said they are excited to represent the country at the upcoming Commonwealth Games but the competition will be tough.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held in Birmingham, England from 28 July to 08 August 2022 with over 5 000 athletes expected to participate in this international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth.

At this championship, T11 (athletes who are completely blind and need the assistance of a guide to run) and T12 (partially blind athletes who also run with a guide) will compete in a mixed category.

In an interview with Nampa on Wednesday, Shikongo who will be competing for the second time at the Commonwealth Games said in 2018 he broke his T11 100m record but this time around he aims to reach the final.

“When I compete with T12 athletes it gives me the motivation to train more as well as increase my speed. But these categories need to be separated in the future as they disadvantage those who are completely blind,” he said.

Shikongo added that he has set his sight on once again breaking his 100m record despite the number of T12 athletes that will be competing at the event.

“I have set myself a goal of reaching the finals; that is my main target no matter how many T12 are there. I am currently hard at work despite not receiving the preparation money for these games,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chris Kinda who will be making his first appearance at the championship said credit should be given to the Almighty, his coach and his guide who made sure he worked hard and qualified for the competition.

“Being in a mixed event is putting me under pressure because I first competed as a T12 athlete before I became a T11 athlete and those guys in the T12 category are strong and fast,” said Kinda adding that he will be intensifying his training from next week with a double training session every day.

Kinda said his goal for the Commonwealth Games is to run at least 11.30 seconds or anything lower.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency