Namibia’s T11 sprinter, Lahja Ishitile (guided by Sem Shimanda) reached the final of the women’s T11 200 metres (m) after finishing third in the 200m semi-finals on Sunday morning at the World Para Athletics Championships.

The 2023 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Para Athletics Championships are underway in Paris, France where Ishitile and Shimanda ran a seasonal best time of 25.78 seconds to finish third in heat one, behind Brazilian sprinter Jerusa Geber and her guide Gabriel Aparecido dos Santos.

Dos Santos won that heat with a time of 25.04 seconds, while Cuiqing Liu of China and her guide Shengming Chen came second with a time of 25.27 seconds.

Only the winners of the two heats and the fastest two losing times advance to the final that will be held on Monday evening. The 25.78 seconds clocked by Ishitile was the fourth fastest time from all the two heats which booked her a spot in the final that will see athletes contest for medals.

Another Namibian still expected to compete on Sunday is T12 female sprinter Lahja Ipinge and guide Paulus Filippus who will compete in the 200m heats at 19h25 local time.

Over 1 300 athletes from 107 nations are competing for 168 medals, and after nine days of competition, Namibia has won three medals which are silvers in the T11 400m by Lahja Ishitile, T11 100m by Ananias Shikongo guided by Even Tjiuiju and T13 400m Johannes Nambala.

The major international multi-sport event involves athletes with a range of disabilities and is governed by the IPC.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency