Erongo Regional Sport Officer, Berthold Karumendu on Monday confirmed that three road races that were scheduled to take place this year have been cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In a media statement he issued on Monday, Karumendu said the organising committee engaged with the main stakeholders of the events and looked into certain aspects, like the current health guidelines in line with the World Health Organisation, Namibia Sport Commission and those of World Athletics sent to all member federations including Athletics Namibia, and concluded that the safety of athletes should be prioritised.
The three cancelled races are the second edition of the Spar National 10 kilometre Championships Run which was scheduled to take place on 28 August at Oshakati, the seventh edition of the Navachab Half Marathon 21.1km Challenge Run meant to take place 18 September in Karibib and the eighth edition of the Erongo Powersave Street Mile 1.6km Run of 16 October 2021 in Omaruru.
All the events have been postponed to next year.
“Our first priority is the safety of our athletes during this COVID-19 pandemic, we are looking forward to 2022 to resume all three races and put measures in place,” the race director said.
Karumendu added that athletes who wished to participate in the races can keep training to ready themselves for next year as the organisers are monitoring the situation and making the races bigger and better for next year.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
