Namibia’s marathon queen delivers bronze
Namibians give it their all in Birmingham
Namibia's Helalia Johannes said her future now depends on how her body will react after scooping a bronze medal in the women's marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, on Saturday.
Fresh off her bronze win at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Helalia Johannes will decide on her future after consulting with her coach Robert Kaxuxuena. “I would like to thank God for giving me this opportunity to compete and to be able to win a bronze medal for my country. Right now after this, I will have to listen to my body and also sit with my coach to plan for the future,” she said.
Johannes took home Namibia’s first medal of this year's games after finishing third in a time of 2:28:39.
Great Britain’s Jessica Stenson won the gold medal, while Kenya’s Margaret Mariuki took silver in an intense race.
Difficult race
At some point, the 2018 Commonwealth gold medallist looked as if she was on course for another historic gold, but
reduced her pace - which saw her losing grip on her competitors.
“I was feeling the pain and decided to drop the pace so that I can run at my own pace which I am able to maintain.
“I was very much happy that the pace was not going very fast from the beginning because I knew that my colleague Alina Armas was also in the group,” Johannes said.
Armas - who came in seventh place - also shared delight regarding clocking a personal best of 2:33:30 in tough conditions.
“First, I want to thank mighty God and I want to express my happiness towards my colleague because she always brings us medals.
“She helped me through the race and I am very happy to finish seventh because it is not easy but I even managed a personal best,” she remarked.
Other results
Other marathon results saw Thomas Rainhold finishing 13th in a time of 2:24:30.
Divan du Plooy came in 25th (56:24) in his men’s triathlon event, while the individual women's triathlon saw Imke Jagau finishing in 29th (1:06:12), while Anri Krugel came in 27th (1:05:56).
Swimmer Ronan Wantenaar ended fourth in his 100-metre breaststroke heat, clocking 1:03:14 on Saturday, while Alexander Skinner came in seventh in 50:40 in the men’s 100 m freestyle.
Namibian fighter Jonas Junias yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals in the light welterweight division after beating Rashield Williams of the Bahamas 5-0 in the round of 16.