Two of Namibia’s leading sprinters, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, will today leave for Italy, where they will continue with their preparations for this year’s Tokyo Olympics.
While in Europe, they will compete in the upcoming Josef Odlozil Memorial event slated for Prague, the Czech Republic on 7 June. Mboma will compete in the 200m and Masilingi in the 100m and 200m.
Their coach, Henk Botha yesterday said the two runners will set up camp in Italy ahead of the 2021 Olympics set for 23 July to 8 August. “There is a very strong possibility that the girls might be invited to the Diamond League in Rome, but we are still waiting for the final confirmation,” he added.
In terms of the girls’ readiness for their European safari,
Botha said Mboma and Masilingi have been hard at work and have been pushing themselves to reach peak fitness levels, adding that the girls are ready to give their European counterparts a good run for their money. “They are fairly well prepared and we have a plan in place. We have also been trying different strategies to see what will work going into the Olympics. But as far as preparations are concerned, I can assure the girls are well prepared,” said Botha.
On Saturday, Mboma and Masilingi delivered great performances at the Athletics Gauteng North track and field event in South Africa, where Masilingi won the women’s 200m race in a time of 22.28 seconds, with Mboma ending second in 22.73 seconds thereby qualifying for the Olympics. Mboma also won the 400m in 50.10 seconds. –mkambukwe@nepc.com.na