Namibia’s T11 female sprinter Lahja Ishitile and her guide Sem Shimanda reached the semi-finals of the women’s T11 200 metres (m) after winning the opening heat of the 200m on Wednesday morning.
The 2023 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Para Athletics Championships are underway in Paris, France.
Ishitile and Shimanda ran a time of 12.38 seconds to win the race, while Venezuelan sprinter Linda Peres Lopez and her guide Alvaro Luis Cassiani finished second with a time of 12.39 seconds.
The fastest time from the five heats held on the day was clocked by Lorena Salvatini of Brazil and her guide Ben Hur Costa Renato. They clocked 23.23 seconds to book themselves a spot in the semi-finals that will be held Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, T37 sprinter Petrus Karuli was disqualified during the men’s 200m semi-finals for infringing Rule 18.5 (a), which states that in all races run in lanes, each athlete or the athlete’s guide-runner shall keep within his allocated lane from start to finish. This shall also apply to any portion of a race where there is a requirement to run in lanes.
Other Namibians also expected to compete on Wednesday evening are T44 male sprinter Denzel Namene in the 100m final, T13 sprinter Johannes Nambala also in the 100m final as well as T12 female sprinter Lahja Ipinge who will compete in the 400m heats.
Over 1 300 athletes from 107 nations are competing for 168 medals, and after five days of competition, Namibia has won one medal – a silver in the T11 400m by Lahja Ishitile.
The major international multi-sport event involves athletes with a range of disabilities and is governed by the IPC.
Source: NAMPA