Helalia miss out on Olympics number five
Road running
As the only Namibian athlete in history to compete at four Olympic Games, Helalia Johannes will be absent from the Paris 2024 Games.The illustrious 43-year-old road-running queen did not make the qualifying cut, despite a valiant top-ten finish at the Vienna Marathon in Austria last Sunday.
On paper Johannes was counted among the pre-race favourites, with the fastest personal best of all the women entrants (2 hour 19 minutes 52 seconds in Valencia, Spain, four years ago).
However, a windy day in the Austrian capital made life difficult for all those aspiring to secure Olympic qualification before the deadline – as only the men’s winner and the top-two women made the Olympic cut-off standard.
Johannes’ time of 2:30:53 placed her in eighth position.
Her male compatriot Daniel Paulus also finished in a respectable 10th place – although his time of 2:13:34 fell short of the required 2:08:10.
Johannes has had a stellar career, including a world championship bronze medal at Doha 2019, followed by the Commonwealth Games gold at 2022 Gold Coast. Her best result at the Olympic Games was 12th place at London 2012.
Coach Robert Kaxuxuena told us from Vienna: “The race went very well for the Namibians, even though we did not run an Olympic qualifying standard. When nature’s weather pattern is changing we can not do anything about it. Unfortunately there is no time left for other qualifying races for these two.
“I would like thank the Namibian National Olympic Committee for giving us this opportunity.”
LAST CHANCE SALOON
Rainhold Tomas, Jeremia Shaliaxwe, Simon Paulus and Paulus IIyambo will attempt to qualify this coming Sunday at the Durban International Marathon.
Tomas made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2021, finishing 41st in 2:18:28. His personal best was achieved earlier that year in Siena (Italy), while he has also finished in solid positions at the 2019 Doha world championship (19th) and 2022 Commonwealth Games (13th) in Gold Coast.