The Kobe Championship was one of a lifetime event in the far, far land of the rising sun! Our athletes set out to conquer their divisions and give in their very best for their performances, showing what they are capable! The championship hosted over 1000 athletes from more than a 100 countries, and Namibia was no exception: our athletes distinguished themselves through their resilience and dedication. The days and results are shown below:
17th May: The beginning of the championship saw Lahja Ishitile PLY with her guide Sem Shimanda taking first position in the women’s 400m T11 race! With an astounding time of 57.93 seconds, they were qualified for the 400m finals on the 19th of May. We also cheered for Bradley Murere and Leonard Amadhilla; Bradley achieved the 15th position in the 100m T47 heats with a time of 11.61 seconds, and Leonard got the 11th position with a time of 13.37 seconds in the T12. Unfortunately, Petrus Karuli could not start his T37 100m run. However, this is not a reason to be upset, we know Petrus is destined for greatness in the future!
18th May: On the second day of the World Championships Para Athletics in Kobe, Japan, Team Namibia competed in the Men’s 400m T11 heats. Chris Kinda and Riwaldo Goagoseb completed the 400m in 51.79 seconds, which secured their spot in the finals on the 19th. Talk about an outstanding performance! Ananias Shikongo and Onesmus Nekundi also finished 6th in a time of 54.17 seconds, putting them in the reserve list for the finals. We are proud of them!
19th May: Chris Kinda and guide Riwaldo Goagoseb cemented themselves as world champions after running the 400m T11 in 52.53 seconds! We congratulate them for their marvelous performance! In the spotlight we also have Johanness Nambala, who ran his first heat in the 100m T13, albeit with a flu. Despite that, he achieved the 7th position 11.46 seconds, leading his qualification for the finals. Well done!
20th May: Lahja Ishitille and guide Sem Shimanda set the African record in the T11 1oom heats, finishing at a time of 12:39 seconds! A truly astonishing performance, and we are proud of them! We also have Denzel Namene, who finished 5th in the T44 100m run at 12.41 seconds, giving him the position of the 7th athlete to qualify for the finals, and Johanna Benson, who made a spectacular run as well, finishing 3rd in her T37 100m run 14.68 seconds. Last but not the least, Johaness Nambala finished 6th in his final 100m T13 run, setting a season best at 11.44 seconds! Unfortunately, Lahja Ipinge and her guide Paulus Filippus were disqualified because of rule 19.4: Guide runner finished before the athlete did. Nonetheless, it is still commendable that a 17 year old athlete has made it to the world championship!
21st May: Johanna Benson came in 6th at 14.56 seconds in the women’s 100m T37 run, setting her new season’s best! Fellow athlete Wen Xiaoyan from China proved hard to beat, who set a world record in the same run at 12.27 seconds. She was followed by Taylor Swanson from the USA.
22nd May:The T11 category, for totally blind athletes, is one of the most challenging races. Due to the necessity of running with a guide, each pair occupies two lanes. As a result, only four athletes can advance to the finals, making it very difficult to qualify. Ananias Shikongo and guide Even Tjiuiji ran a season’s best and finished in 6th position in 11.55 seconds. Alfred Bernardo and guide Onesmus Nekundi also ran their best time for the season, having finished in 11.90 seconds. Well done! We also saw Lahja Ipinge and Paulus Fillippus obtaining 6th position in their 100m T12 heats, which is their season’s best. Congratulations to them! Unfortunately, Chris Kinda and Kelvin Goagoseb did not finish due to a problem in the first meters. Johaness Nambala also met an unfortunate circumstance and was disqualified due to rule 18.2: Lane Infringement. The same rule applied to Theptida from Thailand and Baka from Algeria. Despite this, he managed to run 50.09 seconds in his T13 100m heats.
24th May: As the World Parathletic Championship in Kobe, Japan comes close to an end, Lahja Ipinge with guide Paulus Fillippus and Johanna Benson remain as Namibia’s last athletes to perform! Lahja and Paulus ran a personal best in the 200m T12 heats and finished on 9th position. Their time of 27.09 seconds was unfortunately not enough for them to qualify to the semi-finals, as only athletes in the positions up to 8th can qualify and proceed. However, it has still been an accomplishment for Lahja, who has had the chance to participate in such a championship! Meanwhile, Johanna Benson obtained 6th position in the women’s final 200m T37 run, at a seasonal best of 30.39 seconds. Well done!
