Namibia''s relay team ends fourth

A good start from the heats by the Namibian T11-13 relay team could not materialise in the finals yesterday afternoon, after the team missed out on being in the top three.
The team consists of Martin Aloisius T12, Johannes Nambala T13, Ananias Shikongo T11 and Moses Tobias T11 with their guides, Ivan Tjiviju and Andre Oberholster.
The team that was led by Johannes Nambala starting off well ended fourth.
Nambala was leading and handed over the baton to Tobias Moses but he was too slow to hand over to Martin Aloisius, who had to hand over to Ananias Shikongo.
Shikongo took it home but was not fast enough to catch up with the leading athletes, and the team settled for fourth place.
In another event, S3 swimmer Gideon Nasilowski finished in sixth place, missing out on the finals of the S3 50m freestyle.
The event was the only one for Nasilowski at this year’s Paralympic Games.
Meanwhile, the track road ended for Johanna Benson when she ended last in the T37 400m finals yesterday afternoon.
Benson is now only left with the long jump event, scheduled at 16:05 (Namibian time) today.
She qualified to the finals as the fastest loser on Monday when she came fourth in the heats.
She is unable to defend her 200m title at this year’s event as it is not part of the 2016 Paralympic Games.
Nambala was due to run his 400m heats late yesterday, while T11 Shikongo and Moses were due to run 200m heats.
Namibia’s two-time Paralympic powerlifter Ruben Soroseb will be in action tomorrow and said he will use the experience to win a medal.
He competed at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, and the 2012 London Paralympic Games, where he ended 15th and ninth, respectively.
Soroseb will compete in the 107kg powerlifting final today at 15:00 Namibian time.
He told Nampa on Sunday that he was happy to have qualified for the games in Rio.
“I am ready and looking forward to the competition. I will be happy if I win a medal for my country as it will be a bonus and if I don’t win, I will go back to the drawing board and work hard again,” he said.
The athlete said powerlifting does not get the necessary financial and coaching support back home, which makes it difficult for him to compete when he qualifies for competitions.
“Powerlifting is one of the sports codes that do not get support in Namibia. I train by myself and I do not have competitions to compete in at home, but I do not have time to complain about it as it won’t help right now. I just need to be happy that I am fortunate enough to represent my country at three Paralympic Games.”
Soroseb added that he is not sure if he will continue with the sport after the Games.
“I am really not sure if I will continue being a powerlifter after these games. In the past, I used to be a discus thrower and might do that or shot-put because with those sport codes one can get support.”
- Additional reporting NAMPA


KAINO NGHITONGO