Namibia prepares for London 2012

Guest blog by visiting Olympic Attache for Sub Saharan Africa Sarah Heal.

Having never been to Namibia and knowing what a small population this vast county has (2.2m), I was interested to see how prepared Namibia is for this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. I did not have to get very far into my first meeting, with the Namibian National Olympic Committee and some of the qualified athletes to realise how dedicated Namibians are to sport and how excited the country is going to be when at least 12 Olympic and Paralymic athletes compete in London between 27th July and 9th September.

Joan Smit of the National Olympic Committee was quietly confident that everything was ready to give the athletes the best chance of bringing medals back to Namibia. However, conversations with Gaby Ahrens, the hopeful for the female shooting competition, highlighted how difficult it is to be Namibian and to reach the top of some sports with very little competition in country, compounded by limited sports facilities. So it was good to learn at a later meeting with Deputy Minister for Sport Honourable Pohamba Shifeta that plans are being made to create a top level sports academy in Windhoek. Shifeta is going to be in London to support the Namibian Team and will be able to enjoy the wealth of activities planned for London this summer, not least of which is the Festival of London, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK. Beate Naigambo who has qualified for a second Olympics after she ran in Beijing and her trainer Tobias Hiskia told me of their excitement to once again be representing their country and also of going to London, although they were worried about the weather!

Time had been too short during my first meeting with Namibian long distance cyclist Dan Craven and I was keen to meet him again and learn more about his cycling projects. Over coffee I realised why Dan is such an inspirational figure in Namibia. It is not just that he is one of very few Namibian sports personalities living and competing abroad. It is also because of his commitment to cycling in Namibia where he finds and develops young talent from around the country including Katutura (township). He has big plans to expand the project.

While we were having coffee we bumped into Ndeulipula Hamutumwa, the Chef du Mission of the Olympic Committee, who happened to be in the same cafe. A fortunate chance encounter and one which made me realise how like a big village Windhoek really is, but what a pleasure to be here. I shall be watching the Namibian athletes at the Games with interest, keeping my fingers crossed that they have much earned success.