Namibian female sprinters and a long-distance runner were on Saturday crowned winners of their respective categories at the African Union Sport Council (AUSC) Region 5 Regional Annual Sports Awards (RASA) Awards.<\/P>
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The awards aimed at recognising, rewarding and celebrating the region\u2019s sportspersons for iconic and laudable achievements in sports, were held at Matshapa, in Eswatini.<\/P>
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The awards were made up of 12 categories recognising athletes, coaches, member countries, regional confederations, journalists and teams that had produced outstanding sports performances at regional and international levels.<\/P>
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Namibia received five nominations in different categories at this year’s awards.<\/P>
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Long-distance runner and 2022 Namibia Sports Awards Sportswoman of the Year, Helalia Johannes was crowned as the 2023 AUSC Region 5 sportswoman of the year, overcoming a challenge from Naledi Marape, a chess player from Botswana and Lara van Niekerk, a South African swimmer.<\/P>
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T11 female sprinter and NSC sportswoman of the year, Lahja Ishitile, won the sportswoman of the year with a disability award, outclassing her competitors Ivy Chanda of Zambia (football) and Minkie Janse van Rensburg (swimmer) from South Africa.<\/P>
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Meanwhile, Namibia\u2019s junior sportswoman of the year, Christine Mboma, was crowned as the junior sportswoman of the year at the awards ceremony. She competed in her category with Hayley Hoy (swimming) from Eswatini and Jade Phiri (swimming) from Zambia.<\/P>
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Other Namibian athletes who also received nominations for the awards are; T11 Namibia Sportsman of the Year, Ananias Shikongo, who was nominated in the category of sportsman of the year with a disability and Namibia Sports Achiever of the Year, Peter Shalulile, who was nominated for the RASA sportsman of the year.<\/P>
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In an interview with Nampa on Sunday, NSC Chief Administrator, Freddy Mwiya, said Namibian athletes made history by dominating the awards ceremony.<\/P>
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\u201cThis time Peter (Shalulile) and Shikongo were so close to also winning. It is a sign that we mean business and with more resources, our team will go far in terms of awards,\u201d said Mwiya.<\/P>
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Source: The Namibian Press Agency<\/P>
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