The highlight on the athletics calendar, the Namibia Senior Track & Field Championships take place this weekend with two action-packed days in store at the Windhoek Independence Stadium.
With qualifying places at upcoming continental events up for grabs, like the Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Accra, Ghana from 12-17 May, and the Southern African Confederation of Athletics (SACA) u18 and u20 Championships in Mauritius from 5 to 7 June, as well as the Commonwealth Games, a lot will be at stake and some top class performances can be expected.
Several of Namibia’s top athletes, however, will be competing abroad and will miss the event, although several star attractions will still be in action.
They include Ryan Williams who last weekend won gold at Athletics South Africa’s senior national championships in Stellenbosch with a throw of 55.62m. That’s still quite a way off his national record of 61.15m that he set in Potchefstroom three years ago, but he is in top form and within reach of the Commonwealth Games qualifying distance of 59.56m.
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Another athlete who has excelled in recent weeks is Frieda Iithete who has already broken two records this year.
She first broke her own triple jump record of 12.34m by nearly half a metre with a distance of 12.78m in Windhoek last month, and then two weeks ago, broke Ronel Moolman’s long-standing long jump record of 6.05m that she set in 1994.
Competing at a University of Johannesburg league meeting, Iithete soared past that mark with a distance of 6.18m, and she, too, is in hot form heading into the national champs.
She, however, is still a bit off the Commonwealth qualifying marks of 6.42m for the long jump and 13.46m for the triple jump.
In the men’s sprints, Charley Matundu will start as the favourite after setting the fastest times of the year so far. Last month he won the 100m in 10.44 seconds at the Independence Celebrations Meet, while he also excelled at the Hezekiel Sepeng Invitational Meet in South Africa three weeks ago when he won the 200m in 20.79 seconds.
He, however, can expect tough competition from the likes of Magano Naseb, Mihesco Mouton, Gift Maswahu, Elton Hoeseb and Silvano van Wyk.
In the women sprints Jade Nangula will start as the favourite but the likes of Hanganeni Fikunawa, Napuumue Hengari and Perpetua Simataa will be battling it out for honours.
In the men’s 400m Elvis Gaseb is in hot form after setting a time of 46.38 seconds in Windhoek last month, and he could get close to his national record of 45.73 seconds that he set at ther Africa Senior Championships in Zimbabwe last year.
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In the mens middle distance events David Dam, Mathew Angula and Asser Nalukaku will be the main contenders, while Tuuliki Angula will be out to do the double in the women’s 400m and 800m, as she did at the Independence Celebrations Meet last month.
The men’s high jump should see a fine battle between Halleluja Kaulinge, who won last weekend’s Age Group Championships with a height of 2.05m; and Karsten Diergaardt and Benjamin Hendrickse.
In the women’s field events, the 17-year-old Ansune Smith has been in great form in the hammerthrow, setting a new national record of 50.31m last month and coming close to that with 49.67m last weekend.
Some of Namibia’s top athletes will be missing though, including long jumper Lionel Coetzee, who won an international meet in Ethiopia last weekend with a distance of 7,89m, and several more who are competing in South Africa this weekend. They include 400m athletes Danny Geldenhuys and Andre Retief; triple jumpers Roger Haitengi and David Afrikaner; and sprinter Ndawana Haitembu.
