WINDHOEK – Namibian long distance athlete Daniel Nghipandulwa once again proved that he is destined for greater heights when he dominated proceedings in the men’s 800m race at the Botswana National Track & Field Championships, held in Gaborone, Botswana recently.
Although other Namibian athletes also fared fairly well, Nghipandulwa posted his victory in astonishing style when he crossed the finish line in the men’s 800m event in a commendable time of 1.48.91.
But that was not all for the fired-up Namibian long distance runners as the women’s team also went on to dominate the 800m female category after Lavinia Haitope clocked 2.11.13 to take top position, closely followed by compatriot Claudia Moses in 2nd place with her impressive time of 2.12.75.
The pair of Haitope and Moses were once again back in the thick of things when they proved too strong in the gruelling 1500m event, in which Haitope scooped first place with her time of 4.41.49 and Moses trailed in 2nd place in a time of 4.52.72. Meanwhile, Johannes Skrywer was the only Namibian who survived the top three of the 1500m men’s event after finishing 2nd in an impressive time of 3.54.23.
The Namibian men’s 100m relay team clinched first place in that event when they won the race in a time of 40.99. The team consisted of the fast and furious sprinters Eshmael Tjiramba, Ernst Narib, Even Tjivuvia and Jessie Uri-khob.
Other Namibian participants that also managed to record some impressive times were Jessie Uri-khob who finished 3rd in the men’s 100m race in 10.55, followed by compatriot Even Tjivuvia who clocked 10.67 to finish in 4th place. Budding sprinter Ernst Narib also did fairly well in the men’s 400m race when he clocked 46.88 to finish 4th overall.
The trio of Uri-khob, Narib and Tjivuvia also gave a good account of themselves in the men’s 200m event when Uri-khob finished 3rd in 21.16, Narib 4th in 21.26 while Tjivuvia ended in 4th place with his time of 21.34.
By Otniel Hembapu