Namibia’s Para-athlete Chris Kinda and his guide Kelvin Goagoseb have secured a slot for Namibia in this year’s Summer Paralympic Games, which will take place in Paris, France.
The dynamic duo made a stunning comeback to clinch the gold medal in the 400m T11 event, at the 11th edition of the Kobe Para Athletics World Championships in Japan, finishing with a time of 52.53 seconds yesterday.
With this remarkable performance, they have also been crowned the new world champions. Spain’s Eduardo Manuel Uceda Novas and Felipe De Souza Gomes of Brazil took second and third places, clocking in at 52.61 seconds and 52.65 seconds, respectively.
In addition to Kinda and Goagoseb’s triumph, Lahja Ishitile and her guide Sem Shimanda secured a third-place finish in the 400m T11 final race, recording a time of 58.37 seconds. Brazil’s Simplicio da Silva managed to win the race despite falling at the edge of the finish line, with a time of 57.45 seconds, while China’s Liu Cuiqing claimed second place with a time of 58.32 seconds.
The secretary general of the Namibia Paralympic Committee, Michael Hamukwaya, expressed his satisfaction with the athletes’ performances so far in the competition.
“It’s always good to see the new crop of athletes coming through the ranks, and winning medals at such a big competition. This is good continuity for Para sport in Namibia. The young shall grow, as their only need is to be given more exposure to international competitions. This is good, and it will encourage a lot of upcoming athletes with impairments in Namibia to take up various sports and show the rest that it can be done. I am grateful to see the change of guard and the growth of development during my era,” he said.
Ishitile, Johannes Nambala and Ananias Shikongo’s performances in last year’s World Championship in Paris have already secured Namibia three slots for this year’s Paralympic Games, meaning Namibia has so far four slots at the Games – three for men and one for a woman. Nambala was scheduled to compete last night as he qualified for the 100m T13 final, despite running with flu. All countries will be allocated their final number of slots by 28 May.
Other Para athletes such as Alfred Bernardo, Bradley Murere, Chris Kinda, Denzel Namene, Johanna Benson, Lahja Ipinge, Leonard Amadhila and Petrus Karuli, who are also competing in the championships, can still secure more slots for Namibia if they manage to win a gold medal.
The competition, which kicked off on 17 May, will run until the 25th with over 1000 athletes from more than 100 nations competing in 168 medal events (92 male, 75 female and one mixed).
This is the first edition of the Para Athletics World Championships in East Asia, as well as the third edition in Asia following Doha 2015 in Qatar and Dubai 2019 in the United Arab Emirates.
-lmupetami@nepc.com.na