WINDHOEK – A group of six amateur boxers have been given another opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games after Namibia failed to secure a spot at last year’s championships in Dakar, Senegal.

All hopeful amateur boxers who were unable to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games will participate in the 2024 World Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy, which is scheduled to take place from 29 February.

Joan Smit, the Secretary General of the Namibia National Olympic Committee, mentioned during the sending-off ceremony held yesterday that boxing has always represented the country at the Olympic Games. Therefore, they are looking forward to seeing the young athletes secure their slots for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Qualifiers.

“Last year, we sent a team to Dakar, Senegal, for the same purpose, but they were not able to secure our slots. For this reason, the team is being given another chance to compete in Italy,” she said.

Smit stated that they selected Italy as the location because they wanted the athletes to have sufficient time to prepare after qualifying for the Olympics.

“There are only two scheduled qualifying championships this year, in Italy and Thailand. That’s why we are going to this one in Italy. As you know, boxing is a combat sport, and if boxers get injured, they should have enough time to recover and prepare well for the Olympics,” she added.

The Secretary General mentioned that the boxers are going to face tough competition because most pugilists who couldn’t qualify for the Olympic Games in 2023 will be competing at these championships.

“The amateur boxing federation has selected the best team, and we are hopeful that the boxers will qualify and represent the country at the Olympics, just like in the past. We are confident that the young athletes are physically and mentally prepared to perform well for their country in these championships in Italy,” she noted.

The boxers who will be travelling to Italy are Try-Again Ndevelo, Jonas Junius Jonas, Gebhard Ipinge, Trofinus Johannes, Elifas Shailemo and Petrus Nghishongwa. The coaching staff will consist of Albertus Tsamaseb and Titus Munda Joseph. 

The team will depart for Italy on 28 February and return on 15 March 2024. 

– Nampa