Namibia not giving up on 400m fight

LIMBA MUPETAMIWINDHOEKThe minister of sport, Agnes Tjongarero, says the authorities are in consultation with neighbours South Africa on the way forward for Namibian sprinters Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, who have been banned from 400-metre events by World Athletics.Tjongarero said they are taking care of business when it comes to the two athletes Olympic silver medallist Mboma and 200-metre Olympic finalist Masilingi and have been in consultation with the South African ministry of sport as they have a similar case and are way ahead in the manner in which they have handled two-time Olympic champion Caster Semenya’s case with World Athletics.All hands-on deck“We had a meeting with the sport minister of South Africa as we didn’t want to start afresh with this matter but rather to consult and find out how far they have come. We wait for the Namibia National Olympics Committee, they are affiliated to World Athletics and whatever discussions take place will be through them,” said Tjongarero.The two Namibian athletes were barred from 400-metre events in July, a month before the Olympic Games started and just after they had blown the world away with their track performances.Mboma produced a startling performance at the Irena Szewinska Memorial meeting in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz as she won the women’s 400m by half the length of the finishing straight in 48.54 seconds - a world under-20 record.Masilingi, on the other hand, set a then national record of 22.65 after finishing second in the 200m on her Diamond League debut in Stockholm.The athletes then focused on the 200m at the Olympics, where Mboma won a silver medal in a time of 21.88 seconds.Former Polish sprinter Marcin Urbas then started demanding that Mboma be subjected to a sex-affirming test because he could not believe someone who could run her times "definitely is a woman".I will comment on the trackThe soft-spoken Mboma has refused to be part of the debate, stating that she only wants to focus on running.Her coach, Henk Botha, has added his two cents on World Athletics’ ambiguous rules for athletes with “differences of sexual development”, saying the rules were designed to target and humiliate African athletes.“I totally disagree with the rules. The argument of fairness by World Athletics is just unreal. You know, although my skin is white or my skin tone is a bit different than others, I’m an African and was born in Africa.“We all see how they continue to treat us in the world of sports, especially in athletics. If this is happening to a European athlete it is just nothing, but when it’s an African athlete, suddenly it is a big issue,” said Botha.Masilingi told BBC Sport that altering her body with medication would ruin the way her body develops.“That will be something that rearranges everything - how my body functions and everything."I wouldn't want to involve any other things because this is the way my body functions in its normal way. And if I try something else, I might get caught somewhere else, and something might go wrong with my body,” the sprinter said.Same scenarioCaster Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion in the women’s 800m, was also banned from taking part in events between 400 metres and one mile without taking testosterone-reducing drugs, following a rule introduced by World Athletics in 2019.Semenya staunchly refuses to take testosterone-reducing drugs, arguing it could endanger her health and that the ruling denies her and other athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) the right to rely on their natural athletic abilities.She has over the last two years been fighting this policy with the support from her government, and has gone as far as the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the court ultimately ruled in favour of World Athletics.Namibian Sun has tried to get hold of Semenya and her team, hoping that she would share her views on the two Namibian athletes. Questions have gone unanswered.Semenya did not take part in the Tokyo Games as she failed to achieve the qualifying time for the 5 000 metres, which she opted to compete in.

Namibia not giving up on 400m fight

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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Namibia not giving up on 400m fight

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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