Zorena Jantze
“I didn’t hear the starting pistol go off. I still sat at the starting blocks for a few seconds when I realized that everyone was gone and I was the only one left behind. I didn’t even think of tactics, I just knew that I had to catch up with them. I passed everyone at around the 100 meters mark, and when I crossed the finishing line I was so exhausted, I didn’t even realize I broke the world record,”.
The above are the sentiments of 17-year-old Christine Mboma who broke the under 20 women’s world record whilst competing in a 400-metre sprint at the All Comers Invitational Athletics Meeting in Lusaka over the past weekend.
Her Namibian counterpart, Beatrice Masilingi missed the record time by mere hundreds of a second when she crossed the line in second place. The two athletes comfortably beat the Olympic Games qualifying time of 51,35 seconds, with Mboma crossing the finishing at 49,24 seconds and Masilingi at 49,53 seconds.
The two athletes today joined Informanté’ Radio for a chat with Dirkas on The Hour.
Giving her backstory, Christine Mboma explained she grew up in a village in the Ndiyona constituency in the Kavango East Region, and started doing athletics at school, and intensified her training, even more, when her mother passed away after she turned 16.
The teenager states that currently she is still enrolled in school, and trains regularly after school.
Masilingi, 18, the second world record holder explained that she also hails from the Kavango region, and grew up in Rundu with her grandmother. The young bubbly teenager however adds that she has not visited the region in about four years.
When asked, she said she always wanted to be involved in athletics, Masalingi however stated that she never knew she would do sprinting as she always just played Rugby and Soccer in her younger years. She adds that the two will join the nationals this weekend but will however not be taking part in too many sporting events to avoid burnout when it’s time for the Olympic games.
“People expect this kind of wins from developed countries like the USA. It was a pleasant surprise and a beautiful feeling to beat the current world record,” Beatrice said.
Their coach, Henk Botha noted that he first saw Masilingi’s talent when attending a sporting event at Rundu and thought to himself that the teenager would excel with professional training.
The two athletes currently stay with him and his wife in Grootfontein.
“I assist the Namibia School Sports Union from time to time, and I was requested by the ED of the youth and sports ministry to take the youngster under my wing. At a special handover ceremony with Beatrice’s grandmother, I was however surprised as I was told that Christine would also come with me. I took them home 3 years ago. I have a sports plan and a life plan for them, I want to provide a better life for them as they are not only good athletes but good people,” Botha noted.
