Two of Namibia’s sprinting sensations Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi yesterday stole the show at the All Comers Meet held in Lusaka, Zambia, where both ladies scooped medals in the 400m and 800m events.
Mboma, who has already qualified for this year’s Tokyo Olympic Games, won gold in the women’s 400m race when she clocked an astonishing time of 49.24 seconds to take first place, closely followed by compatriot Masilingi in second place with an equally remarkable time of 49.53 seconds. Third place was won by Malawi’s Asimenye Simwaka with her time of 52.59 seconds.
Although it was yet to be officially confirmed by World Athletics late yesterday, organisers said Mboma’s time of 49.24 seconds tumbled the longstanding 400m record time of 49.42 seconds set by Germany’s Grit Breuer in 1991.
The 17-year-old Mboma was unstoppable as she extended her dominance to the 800m race, where she again shattered a strong field of contestants to bag a gold medal in a time of 2:03.27 seconds, followed by the Zambian pair of Felistus Mpande (2:14.48) and Majory Phiri (2:17.88) in second and third places, respectively.
Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Masilingi – who has also already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics – won silver in the women’s 200m event when she crossed the line in a time of 22.71 seconds. The All Comers Meet was held at Lusaka’s National Heroes Stadium and saw top athletes from South Africa, Malawi, Botswana, Uganda and Kenya as well as Europe partaking.
Reflecting on the impressive performances of Mboma and Masilingi, trainer and veteran mentor Henk Botha yesterday told New Era Sport he was very impressed with how both Mboma and Masilingi executed their game plan and the times they clocked.
“I am excited about the results; we came to the competition with the mission of winning medals but I have to admit I didn’t think we would win them in such great times. We are proud of every result the girls produced over the last couple of days, but the main objective, for now,s is to start preparations for the upcoming Olympics, which are just around the corner,” said an excited Botha.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na