Hesron Kapanga
Namibian athletes endured a tough campaign at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, India, marking the country’s poorest performance in the last four editions of the global competition.
The 12th edition of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Para Athletics Championships took place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from 27 September to 5 October 2025. The event attracted over 1 000 athletes competing in 186 medal events (101 men’s, 84 women’s, and one mixed relay), representing a 15-event increase from the 2024 edition held in Kobe, Japan.
Team Namibia had eight athletes competing in track events across the T11, T12, T37, T44, and T46 classifications. However, only three sprinters managed to progress to the finals of their respective events.
Veteran sprinter Ananias Shikongo and his guide, Even Tjiuiju, delivered the team’s only medal at the championships. After being eliminated in the semi-finals of the T11 400 metres with his guide Sem Shimanda, Shikongo redeemed himself with a brilliant run in the T11 100 metres (m), clocking a personal best and African record of 11.00 seconds to secure a silver medal.
In the mixed T46/47 100 metres, Namibia’s T46 sprinter Bradley Murere missed out on the final after finishing fourth in his heat with a season’s best time of 11.30 seconds. Only the top two from each heat and the next two fastest overall advanced to the final.
T44 sprinter Denzel Namene also faced difficulties, finishing seventh in his 100m heat with a season’s best of 12.37 seconds and sixth in his 200m heat with 25.23 seconds.
Meanwhile, T37 sprinter Petrus Karuli competed in the 100m, 200m, and 400m races, achieving personal bests in all three. Despite finishing last in his 100m (12.12) and 200m (24.86) heats, Karuli reached the 400m final after placing third in the heats with a seasonal best of 55.30 seconds. In the final, he clocked another personal best of 54.76 seconds to finish eighth.
Defending T11 400m world champion Chris Kinda and teammate Alfredo Bernardo both fell short in the T11 100m heats, with Kinda recording 11.81 seconds and Bernardo 12.25 seconds.
Namibia’s 2012 Paralympic gold medallist Johanna Benson also struggled to reach the podium despite recording personal bests. In the T37 100m, she finished last in her heat (12.12). She later placed seventh in the 400m final (1:11.00) and eighth in the 200m final (31.00).
Another Namibian female athlete, Lahja Iipinge, who was competing in her third World Para Athletics Championships, failed to advance beyond the heats in all her events. In the T12 400m, she finished second in her heat with a personal best of 59.78 seconds but did not progress. She also missed out on the semi-finals in the 100m (13.43) and 200m (26.73) races despite achieving seasonal bests.
After nine days of competition, Namibia concluded the championships with just one silver medal, the lowest tally since 2013, placing 55th overall. Brazil topped the medal table with 44 medals (15 gold, 20 silver, and nine bronze).
Among African nations, Algeria was the best performer, finishing 19th with nine medals (three gold, three silver, and three bronze). Tunisia followed in 29th place with nine medals (two gold, four silver, and three bronze), while South Africa ranked 30th with four medals (two gold and two bronze).
-Nampa