Golden girl Lahja Ishitile eyes more success

Namibia’s list of proudest sporting moments gained another indelible entry on Saturday evening at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games when Lahja Ishitile and her guide Sem Shimanda won the 400 metres T11 gold medal in a new championship record.The 27-year-old visually impaired sprinter won the final by bursting over the finish-line in 56.20 seconds to rewrite the history books and eclipsing the previous Games record of 56.25s that was held by Cuiqing Liu of China. Lahja missed the 400m T11 women’s world record by 0.20 of a second.Ishitile became second female Namibian athlete to win a Paralympic gold, after Johanna Benson (T37) at London 2012 in the 200 metres.More success is beckoning for the Namibian as she undertakes her campaign in the 100 metres today (heat 1 at 12:18)The T11 100m qualifying heats are held from 12:12 today, with the semi-finals to follow at 19:20, and the final on Tuesday 3 September at 20:03. With no qualifying heats or semi-finals, the 200m final is on Sunday 8 September at 19:23. Consistent improvementIshitile kicked her 400m campaign off by winning her qualifying heat in 57.73s and sent a warning to her competitors by clinching her semi-final in 57.74s. She was already the fastest contender in the heats as well as the semi-finals.In May this year, Lahja won a 400 bronze medal in 58.37s at the World Para Athletics Championship in Kobe, Japan. Since then she has found her overdrive to overpower her rivals completely.Thalita Vitoria Simplicio da Silva with 57.45s scooped gold in Kobe, but on Saturday night Lahja showed her a clean pair of heels outsprinting the Brazilian by more than a second. Da Silva managed the silver medal in 57.21s, while Shanshan He of China scooped bronze in 58.25s.Men’s racesIn the men’s 400m T11 heats Ananias Shikongo and guide Even Tjiuju finished third with 53.51s in heat one, while Chris Kinda and guide Riwaldo Goagoseb finished second with 53.00s in heat two. Unfortunately Ananias did not qualify for the 400m semi-finals on Saturday evening. Although Chris bettered his qualifying time (53.00s) in the semi-finals with 52.95s, he ended third and did not advance to the final.Petrus Karuli managed a fifth place (12.74s) in the 100m T37 qualifying heat. Unfortunately he did not qualify for the semi-finals.Johannes Nambala could not reach his top form this season in the 100m T13 yet. His season’s best of 11.29s is far from his personal best of 10.78s that he clocked at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Para Games.On Saturday afternoon in the 100m T13 qualifying heat Johannes came fifth in 11.10s. The top three runners in each of the two heats automatically go through to the final. Johannes and Jean-Paul Isaac (10.97s) from the USA qualified for the 100m T13 final as the two fastest losers. The 100m T13 final was last night at 19:47. Johannes’ result can be viewed on Sport Wrap’s Facebook page. – tielman@nsh.com.na

Golden girl Lahja Ishitile eyes more success

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Golden girl Lahja Ishitile eyes more success

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