WINDHOEK – Going halfway through day three of the 8th edition of the biannual SARPCOO Games underway in Windhoek, hosts Namibia were firmly in the driving seat having amassed an astonishing haul of more than 20 medals, which include 9 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze medals.
The combined Nampol team took a comfortable lead on the log table of the 14-nation multi-sports games with 56 points, certainly no mean feat. The hosts got their assault off to a shaky start when the Namibian women’s football team failed to negotiate their way past their South African counterparts in the opening match on Monday. The match ended in a dull goalless stalemate. However, the Namibian men’s football team was in no mood to be generous and comfortably waltzed past Mozambique, scoring 2 unanswered goals to win the tie.
Day two saw Nampol claim the first scalps in the athletics discipline by way of two gold medals in the women’s long jump, 100m hurdles for women, 800m sprint (both men and women), the 200m sprint for men, as well as the 400m hurdles for women and the 4 x 100m relay for women. There were silver medals in the following disciplines: long jump (men and women), 10 000m for women, 200m for women and shot put for men.
Namibia added to its medal tally by visiting the podium on no less than 6 occasions after claiming bronze in the next track events: the 10 00m for women, the 110m hurdles for men, the 800m for women, the 200m for women and the 400m hurdles for women. The highlight of yesterday’s action was doubtlessly the 4×100 relay for women where Namibia scooped top honours with sprinting sensation Tjipee Herunga anchoring Nampol to a well-deserved gold medal. Herunga finished the day as the proud recipient of four gold medals with wins in the 200m and 400m races, while she was also victorious in both the 4×100 and the popular 400m medley relay.
Lavina Haitope returned the compliment to her compatriots with victory in the 1500m race, while Globine Mayova also triumphed in the 100m sprint. Middle distance runner Daniel Nghipandulwa won the 800m race, before adding to his medal haul with silver in the 4×100 men’s relay.
By Carlos Kambaekwa