NNOC satisfied with Olympic athletesThe Namibian National Olympic Committee (NNOC) says local athletes did well despite facing tough challenges in Brazil. Challenges hampered team performance The Namibian National Olympic Committee (NNOC) says local athletes did well despite facing tough challenges in Brazil. The Namibian National Olympic Committee (NNOC) yesterday reported on how the country’s athletes performed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro last month.According to NNOC vice-president Jesse Schickerling, who was the chef de mission of the team, the Namibian team had many challenges.
The first of these was an appeal lodged with the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS).
“Two days after our arrival in Rio and at a time when we were supposed to focus our entire energy and time on technical meetings and training schedules of athletes, we were confronted with the appeal,” Schickerling said.
The appeal involved a complaint regarding the omission of 400m athlete Tjipekapora Herunga from the team to compete in Brazil, the administrator said.
He said they were surprised by this as they had a meeting with Athletics Namibia prior to the team’s departure and they had regarded the matter as closed.
“It centred on Herunga with Athletics Namibia allegedly lodging the appeal… I don’t understand why it happened but we feel that the appeal was lodged with ulterior motives,” Schickerling said.
The second challenge was the arrest of boxer Jonas Junias Jonas on a charge of sexual assault. He remains in custody in Brazil pending a court hearing.
“We spent a lot time handling the issue,” Schickerling said.
Satisfied
Schickerling went on to mention the lack of proper funding, a lack of responsiveness from national federations and inadequate training facilities that contributed to Namibia’s performance.
“I am satisfied that the Namibian athletes performed well despite these challenges,” he said.
Namibian cyclist Dan Craven ended in 35th place in his event despite nursing an injury, while shooter Gaby Ahrens ended ninth but managed to beat the number one shooter in the world.
Boxer Mathias Hamunyela won against a former gold medallist and was unlucky to lose in his second match, with the result stunning the crowd at the venue.
Jonas, who had to fight only hours after being released from police custody, had to lose one kilogram before his fight and while he won the first round, he eventually ran out of steam.
Marathon runners Beata Naigambo, Helalia Johannes and Alina Armas all had medical issues leading up to the race but managed to finish in 41st, 56th and 75th place respectively.
“They finished in the top 50% of athletes [and] all of them beat their Southern African counterparts,” Schickerling mentioned.
Cyclists Michelle Vorster and Vera Adrian also had respectable performances, the administrator said.
Marathon runner Mynhardt Kauanivi finished 70th, which was well within the top 50% of runners.
HECTOR MAWONGA