Namibian long-distance runners Alina Armas and Tomas Reinhold struggled at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, finishing 49th and 54th respectively in their events on Sunday.

The World Athletics Championships is a biennial athletics competition organised by World Athletics. Alongside the Olympic Games, it represents the highest-level championships of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking.

Team Namibia was represented by two marathon runners and a track and field athlete.

Reinhold, who finished 17th in the men's marathon at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in the United Arab Emirates, struggled this time and only managed 54th place.

Victor Kiplangat of Uganda won the race with a time of two hours, eight minutes, and 53 seconds (2:08:53), while Reinhold finished 13 minutes slower with a time of 2:23:36.

Armas ran her best time of the season at 2:40:49, but only managed 49th place in the women's category. The winner, Amane Beriso Shankule from Ethiopia, completed the race in 2:24:23, 16 minutes faster than the Namibian runner.

The World Athletics Council approved the entry standards for the 2024 Olympics marathon in November 2022. Men's category requires 02:08:10, and women's category requires 2:26:50. Athletes can qualify in two ways for the Paris Games.

The qualification requirements are 50 per cent of qualification places are based on achieving the event's entry standard within the qualification period, while the other 50 per cent are based on the World Athletics Ranking during the ranking period.

For the marathon, the period is between 01 November 2022 and 30 April 30 2024. All performances must occur during competitions organised or authorised by World Athletics, its area associations, or its national federations in accordance with its rules published on the World Athletics Global Calendar.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency