Athletics coach Henk Botha has expressed his excitement over Namibia’s Olympic Games silver medallist Christine Mboma returning to the athletics track in April next year.
Earlier this year, Mboma was banned from competing in athletics events by World Athletics due to high testosterone levels.
The sport’s governing body announced that female athletes with differences in sexual development, resulting in high naturally occurring levels of testosterone, would need to reduce their blood testosterone to below 2.5 nanomoles per litre (nmol/l) for a minimum of 24 months to compete competitively once again.
However, Botha revealed that World Athletics has approved Mboma to compete in the 100-metre (m) and 200-metre (m) events but not in her preferred 400-metre, 800-metre or 500-metre events. “Christine (Mboma) has received approval from World Athletics to resume competing in the 100m and 200m events. This follows the completion of treatment to lower her testosterone
levels to the prescribed limit of 2.5,” he said.
Botha said he was looking forward to Namibia’s female Olympic medalist making her return to the track in April 2024. “We got the news from World Athletics a month ago, and she is ready to compete once more.
The main thing is that it was difficult to train without knowing what you were training for, but with this announcement, we are currently busy with power sessions and gym sessions, which we are using as part of her early preseason,” Botha said. The coach stated that in January 2024, they plan to start with serious training sessions involving
a lot of track and endurance work.
“Christine and I see this as an opportunity to show the world that we can make a difference and be a powerhouse in athletics, even though this will be a steep challenge. We are looking forward to making all Namibians proud once more,” he said.
– Nampa