WINDHOEK: Only two of five Namibian Paralympians have thus far competed in the 2012 Paralympic Games underway in London.
Johanna Benson, who competes in the F37 classification, ended 10th out of 12 competitors in the women’s long jump that took place on Friday.
Benson, 22, jumped a distance of 3.71 metres. The event was won by Russia’s Margarita Goncharova with a distance of 4.84m, followed by Inna Stryzhak from Ukraine in 4.79m and China’s Yuanhang Cao with 4.40m.
Benson was due to compete in the final of the women’s 100m on Sunday evening at 21h17 local time. She qualified for the final earlier in the day as one of two fastest losers.
Benson will again be in action on Wednesday in the women’s 200m race at 11h49 local time.
The other Namibian that competed thus far is sprinter Martin Amutenya Aloisius, who was due to run in the first round of the men’s T12 400m on Sunday evening at 20h00.
Aloisius, 23, is part of 15 runners. The final will take place on Thursday at 20h00.
The youngster will again be in action on Friday in the men’s 200m race at 11h56. The final is set for Saturday at 21h05.
The Namibian paralympians that will be in action on Monday are Reginald Benade (F36) in discus throw at 11h10, and sprinter Ananias Shikongo (T11) in the men’s 200m dash at 22h16.
Benade, who won a bronze medal in discus throw at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, is part of 18 athletes in this year’s final event.
Shikongo will run with guide Even Tjiviju in Heat 3 of 5. The final is on Tuesday at 21h20
He will also participate in the first rounds of the 400m on Thursday and the 100m on Friday. The final of the 400m race is on Friday at 21h50, and the final of the 100m is on Saturday at 20h29.
Namibian powerlifter Ruben Soroseb (PO) will be in action in the 100kg category on Wednesday at 13h00.