Windhoek
Namibian sprinting sensation Tjipe Herunga last weekend kicked off the 2016 athletics season on a high note when she finished in second place in the 400 metre race at the Gibson Relay at Jamaica National Stadium.
Herunga came second after clocking 53.49 seconds, finishing just a few seconds behind winner Alesha Kelly of St. Jago High School, who clocked 53.39.
Roneisha McGregor of Hydel High took third place with a time of 55.40-seconds.
According to NBC sport announcer Vezemba Rodman Katjaimo – who, like athlete Herunga is also based in Jamaica – the sprinter used the competition to prepare for the upcoming World Indoor Championship in Portland, Oregon, USA on March 27.
At the World Indoor Championship Herunga will aim to use the competition as a platform to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio later this year.
The Jamaican Gibson Relay is a relay carnival that takes place on the last Saturday of February each year. It was launched in 1972, but commenced officially only in 1973. It is named the Gibson Relays in honour of Kingston College’s first principal, Bishop Gibson, but was last year renamed to the Gibson McCook Relay, this time also recognising the competition’s founding chairman, the late Neville McCook