Special Olympics Namibia will this weekend host its national sports day, with the aim to assemble a team that will represent Namibia at the 2023 Summer Games in Berlin, Germany.

The event will see close to 50 athletes from Erongo and Oshana competing in athletics and cycling at Unam’s sports field in the capital on Friday and Saturday.

Speaking to New Era Sport yesterday, organiser and Special Olympics Namibia (SON) national director Emilia Nzunzi said more codes were scheduled to compete but the recent ban on contact sports changed their plans.

“We were initially scheduled to have four sports codes, which are football, cycling, athletics and basketball; however, due to contact sports being banned for the entire month, we resorted to going with the two non-contact sports code – cycling and athletics,” she said.

The two-day event will see athletes with intellectual disabilities and those without coming together to compete. 

“The reason is to promote unified sport in the country. We will have both athletes with intellectual disabilities and those without competing in the same categories to promote and create awareness,” said Nzunzi.

In terms of Covid-19 protocols, Nzunzi said they will enforce all the measures by strictly allowing not more than 50 individuals on the field, while masks and sanitisers will be available for every participant and official.

Meanwhile, Werner Jeffery, who is also part of the organising teams, said he is excited, and looks forward to meeting all the participants. 

“We are looking forward to having more youth involved in this initiative next time we stage such an event,” said Jeffery.

- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na