Fredericks calls for increased sports funding
The athletics icon said the Namibian Paralympic athletes are an inspiration to him as much as they are to their fellow countrymen.
NAMPA
Namibia’s first-ever Olympic medallist Frankie Fredericks has called for improved funding for sports in order for Namibia to be competitive against major countries in sporting competitions.
He was speaking at the Hosea Kutako International Airport last Wednesday after Namibia’s Paralympics team arrived from the just-ended 2020 Paralympic Games in Japan.
“When Ananias (Shikongo) won a medal and they were in the bus singing, I could see the team spirit when they started singing… That took me back to when I was a young boy in Katutura, the struggles I went through and what I have achieved in my life,” he said.
However, Fredericks said as much he has tried assisting one of the athletes, Johannes Nambala, by sponsoring him with N$250 000 as preparation allowance, that was not enough.
“It sounds like a lot of money, but if you think of five years of somebody training for a medal, it is little. We have to continue to try and support and give more to these athletes,” Fredericks said.
Helping hand
He added that he is aware of the challenges faced by the athletes now that the Olympics are over in terms of paying bills and taking care of their basic necessities, hence his decision - on behalf of the Frankie Fredericks Foundation - to pledge N$20 000 to each of the athletes, guides, support staff and coaches who went to Tokyo.
The Namibian Paralympic team bagged two medals at the Tokyo Games, with Nambala winning bronze in the men’s T13 400 m and Shikongo bagging silver in the men’s T11 400 m.
Namibia’s first-ever Olympic medallist Frankie Fredericks has called for improved funding for sports in order for Namibia to be competitive against major countries in sporting competitions.
He was speaking at the Hosea Kutako International Airport last Wednesday after Namibia’s Paralympics team arrived from the just-ended 2020 Paralympic Games in Japan.
“When Ananias (Shikongo) won a medal and they were in the bus singing, I could see the team spirit when they started singing… That took me back to when I was a young boy in Katutura, the struggles I went through and what I have achieved in my life,” he said.
However, Fredericks said as much he has tried assisting one of the athletes, Johannes Nambala, by sponsoring him with N$250 000 as preparation allowance, that was not enough.
“It sounds like a lot of money, but if you think of five years of somebody training for a medal, it is little. We have to continue to try and support and give more to these athletes,” Fredericks said.
Helping hand
He added that he is aware of the challenges faced by the athletes now that the Olympics are over in terms of paying bills and taking care of their basic necessities, hence his decision - on behalf of the Frankie Fredericks Foundation - to pledge N$20 000 to each of the athletes, guides, support staff and coaches who went to Tokyo.
The Namibian Paralympic team bagged two medals at the Tokyo Games, with Nambala winning bronze in the men’s T13 400 m and Shikongo bagging silver in the men’s T11 400 m.
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