Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service, Agnes Tjongarero, on Friday officially welcomed back three Namibian sports teams that participated in various high-profile competitions over the past few weeks.

The Commonwealth Games, the Special Olympics Namibia (SON) and the Namibia Chess Federation (NCF) teams were officially welcomed back in Windhoek following their arrival from their various duties around the globe during the week.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony which was attended by dignitaries, Tjongarero paid tribute to the three teams for their achievements in their various competitions.

“We are grateful to you for representing Namibia with honour and dignity in the various competitions where you competed. Thank you very much for raising the Namibia flag high in America (SON), India (chess) and England (Commonwealth Games) to be amongst the best. Congratulations, your hard work has paid off,” Tjongarero said.

She added that while not all the athletes brought medals home, she was grateful that Namibian athletes improved their performances through competing with the best, from which they gained experience.

She called on various sporting codes to continue identifying new talent and grooming it to continue winning medals at international events.

“These competitions come at the back of COVID-19 enforced lockdowns, which meant that training was minimised or completely prohibited. This influenced your participation negatively. Different countries had different measures, others could train, you could not,” Tjongarero explained.

She also paid tribute to the sponsors, whom she said made it possible for the athletes to prepare, travel, compete and win medals.

Namibia sent 34 athletes to the Commonwealth Games and won four bronze medals through Helalia Johannes Alex Miller, Ananias Shikongo and Christine Mboma.

Namibia was ranked 39th out of 72 countries overall.

The SON’s Special Gladiators, who participated in the Unified Football Games in Michigan and Detroit in the United States of America, came back with gold medals.

The chess team went to India, where they competed in the 44th World Chess Olympiad in Chennai.

Namibia produced its best performance ever in the competition, with 10 players (five men and five women). Lichen Mentile and Hiskia Hanguwapo qualified for the conditional Feeder Master titles.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency