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Namibia: Confusion Over Olympic Standards
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
15 April 2008
Posted to the web 15 April 2008
Agnes Samaria has expressed dismay and refused to accept a decision by the Namibian Olympic Committee (NOC) that she has to qualify a second time for this year's Olympic Games in Beijing.
Samaria qualified for both the 800m and the 1 500m at international events last year.
In the 800m she qualified with a time of 1:59,74 at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, while she qualified with a new Namibian record time of 4:05,44 in the 1 500m at the Stuttgart Grand Prix Meet.
The NOC however resolved that athletes who qualified last year, need to qualify again this year to book their tickets to Beijing.
This was relayed to Athletics Namibia (AN), who were supposed to inform Samaria, but to date no one has informed her about the decision.
"There is no such thing that I have to qualify a second time.
In Namibia we don't have many athletes so there is no need to qualify for a second time.
When Frank Fredericks was still running he never had to qualify a second time, so I don't see the need for me to do so," she said.
The president of Athletics Namibia, Alpha Kangueehi, said that the NOC had taken the decision and they had to abide by that.
"The NOC said that athletes who qualified last year need to do so again this year, so we have to accept that and cannot overrule that decision.
I don't want to respond through the media on this matter but will discuss it with the NOC through official channels.
If it's up to me to inform her then I will do that," he said.
AAC Permit Meet Meanwhile, Samaria expressed satisfaction with her performance at the African Athletics Confederation Permit Meeting in Windhoek on Saturday, where she won both the 800m and 1 500m events.
Her times were relatively slow, but the conditions were not conducive to fast times, with a cold wind blowing up to five metres per second.
Samaria won the 1 500m in 4:24,00 and the 800m in 2:06,25, despite a poor start in the latter event.
The lane official was still checking whether the athletes were behind their starting lines when the starting gun suddenly went off.
In the confusion, Samaria nearly collided with the lane official and got off to a late start.
She finally hauled the leaders in after about 250 metres and went to the front at the bell.
"I was happy with my performances despite the poor start.
I felt strong and my legs were not tired and with a good start I could have done much better," she said.
Athletes from six southern African countries, namely Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Lesotho, Botswana and Mozambique participated in the AAC Permit meet.
One of the highlights of the meet was the men's 200m where Namibia's Hitjiverue Kaanjuka won in 21,07 seconds, despite running into a strong headwind of 5,3 metres per second.
With a strong surge over the home stretch, Kaanjuka finished ahead of Ofentsemogawane of South Africa (21,13) and California Molefe of Botswana (21,26).
Namibians who won gold medals at the meet included Merlyn Diamond (women's 100m, Helena Iipinge (women's 5 000m), Augusta Sethie (women's high jump) and Hans von Lieres (men's high jump).
On Friday evening, Namibia's top junior athletes participated at the Coca-Cola Frank Fredericks Invitational meeting, but here, too, the results were not too spectacular due to the cold and rainy conditions.
Keshia Kalomo (12,20 seconds) pipped Merlyn Diamond (12,22) to the line in an exciting women's 100m, while Kalomo also won the women's long jump with a distance of 5,56m.
In the Girls' javelin throw event, Elfie Potgieter of the Erongo Region set a new junior record of 44,47m, while Tiaan Maritz of Khomas won both the Boys 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles events.
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Namibia Sport
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