Gold for Marike Weitz at CAA U18 champs

Athletics
Namibia had three individual medals and one relay medal by late yesterday.
Andrew Poolman
  • 1 Day Ago
Athletics Namibia’s team won four medals ahead of yesterday’s concluding day in the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) continental under-18 championship held in Abeokuta, Nigeria over the weekend.

The highlight was Marike Weitz’s double, which included the gold medal in the girls’ shot put with a 16.32 metres throw, after winning the team’s first bronze medal in the discus throw with a personal best 47.48 metre effort.

The Windhoek Gymnasium athlete coached by Christine van der Linde is obviously a considerable prospect.

Her former school mate Tuané Silver, who now studies and competes in the USA, improved the senior national shot put record to 17.11 metres in Fayetteville in May last year, using the heavier senior weight (4 kg) than the under-18 weight of 3 kg with which Weitz holds a personal best of 16.58 metres.

Another Namibian making inroads on the throwing scene is Ansune Smith, who won the U18 continental bronze in the girls’ hammer throw with a distance of 47.48 metres.

In the boys’ medley relay, Namibia won the bronze behind South Africa (gold) and Nigeria (silver). The team consisted of Miheshco Mouton (Roots Gymnasium, 100m), Martin Nghililiwenga (WHS, 200m), Christo van Rooyen (WAP, 300m) and Jaco Potgieter (Edugate, 400m).

Team manager Madeleine Kotze says there were more noteworthy performances in Nigeria, as the Namibians performed “overall very well under the circumstances".

“Caleb Bessinger reached the 100m final and was placed around third position late in the race, when he pulled a hamstring muscle. That was a bit of bad luck.

“Also, Matt-Reece Izaaks ran a personal best of 4 minutes 04.36 seconds in the 1500 metres – one of the quickest in a long time by a Namibian. And he is still only 16 years old,” Kotze said.

More Namibians including Magano Naseb (200m) and Christo van Rooyen (400 hurdles) were scheduled to compete in finals later yesterday.

Kotze says the Namibians have been hanging in there and staying positive, despite sometimes dodgy meals and long trips between the stadium and the hostels in which all the teams are hosted. South African media over the weekend reported about their team and the parents’ complaints to the organisers regarding some of these conditions.