Namibian sprint sensation Beatrice Masilingi, who some months ago was sidelined by a torn hamstring and damaged tissues in her right leg, on Sunday strongly bounced back in a thrilling win over 200m.

The event took place at the Charrière stadium in Switzerland.

Masilingi won the race with a seasonal best of 22.29 seconds, followed by Poland’s Anna Kiełbasińska in third place with a time of 22.76 seconds, which is also a personal best. Third place went to Germany’s Alexandra Burghardt, who clocked a personal best of 23.04 seconds. 

The Resisprint International is a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger event, which attracts some of the world’s top athletes across various running
events. 

A few months ago, Masilingi was forced to limp off midway through a race during the Gaborone International Meet in Botswana after she suffered a torn hamstring, which also led to the damage of other surrounding tissues in her right leg.

The 19-year-old Namibian sprinter, who is now running and training under new coach Hennie Kriel of South Africa, had been going through a recuperation process, and this past weekend’s race was a first of many steps on her journey to full recovery. 

At the age of 18, she finished sixth in the women’s 200m at last year’s Tokyo Olympics with a personal best time of 22.28 seconds, having made the final along with fellow Namibian sprinter and eventual silver medallist Christine Mboma.

Masilingi also won medals in both the 100m and 200m at last year’s World U/20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya. She also achieved the second-fastest world U/18 time in the 400m and the third-fastest world U/20 time in history with her marks of 50.42 seconds and 49.53 seconds, respectively, set in December 2020 in Pretoria, South Africa and during April 2021 at the All Comers Meet in Lusaka, Zambia.

- ohembapu@nepc.com.na