Namibian Nghipandula takes Austrian 1500m win

Submitted by Namibia Sport on 25 June 2011 - 2:18pm

Namibian middle distance runner, Daniel Nghipandulwa, won the men's 1500m race in cold, wet and windy conditions on Thursday in Reid, Austria.

Nghipandulwa finished ahead of Daniel Hummel of Germany and Filip Jalovy of the Czech Republic with a winning time of 3:51.17.

In the absence of her traditional 400m, Tjipekapora Herunga competed in the 100m and the 200m.

Herunga finished second in the 200m with a time of 24,74 and was fifth in the 100m A race with a time of 12,50. Both races were won by South African Carina Horn with times of 11,88 and 24,15 in the 100m and 200m respectively.

Sprint sensation, Globine Mayova won the 100m B race with a time of 12,49 beating Marina Banovic from Croatia and third placed Austrian Verana Manapace.

Hitjevirue Kaanjuka finished third in the 100m A race with a time of 10,84 and then was second in the 200m A race with a time of 21,84.

The team's coach, Letu Hamhola who travelled with the team said that the athletes were happy with their results.

"Apart from the unfavourable weather conditions, the athletes are happy that they participated in their first athletics meeting in Europe and are looking forward to racing more in preparation for the All Africa Games in Maputo," Hamhola said.

The athletes were invited to compete in six events in Germany and depending on their performance, could be invited to compete in more events.

Along with Hamhola, they are also accompanied by Agnes Samaria who is the team manager.

Their visit forms part of the Vision 2016 programme which was originally developed by Samaria and Hamhola, and which has subsequently been sponsored by the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture.

Herunga, Mayova and Nghipandulwa have already qualified for the All Africa Games in Mozambique while Kaanjuka is yet to reach the qualifying standards.