Africa-Press – Namibia.
As the national anthem reverberated loud inside Nairobi’s vast Kasarani Stadium and the Namibian flag melodically fluttered to the tune in the afternoon breeze, the camera zoomed in on the steely gaze of Christine Mboma who lit up the track at World Athletics Under 20 Championships.
The 18-year-old and her training partner Beatrice Masilingi had barely caught their breath after Mboma ran a storming 9,86 seconds final leg to secure an unlikely silver medal in the women’s 4×100 relay minutes earlier.
The relay team which also includes Ndawana Haitembu and Nandi Vass, set a new national record of 43,76 seconds to finish behind Jamaica (42,94) but ahead of Nigeria (43,76).
It was the perfect end to a richly rewarding championships which also yielded a gold and two silvers in the individual sprints.
On Saturday, Mboma pipped Masilingi to claim her first international title in another record breaking dash.
The Olympic Games silver medallist ran a superb race to crush Masilingi’s one-day old championship record, clocking 21,84 seconds ahead of her compatriot who timed a new personal best of 22,18. Favour Ofili set a Nigerian national U20 record after clocking 22,23 to take the bronze.
“It feels amazing to win this just after being at the Olympic Games and winning silver. I am really confident and hopeful that I am able to do even better in future events,” Mboma told World Athletics after the race.
On Friday, Mboma ran 22,41sec in her semi-final before Masilingi, who picked up silver in the 100 m on Friday, went 0,22sec quicker in her own qualifier.
Mboma’s winning time on Saturday was just 0,03 outside her personal best and her own world U20 record from that epic final in Tokyo where she finished second to Jamaican double sprint queen Elaine Thompson-Herah.
“Records come and go, you don’t own it. Yesterday I set a championship record and minutes later Masilingi lowered it even further,” Mboma said.
Mboma’s victory was reminiscent of her breathtaking run at Tokyo 2020, when she moved through the gears to storm past six athletes and claim silver.
“I am excited to have registered the world U20 record today but know it will sooner rather than later be broken.”
Masilingi was gracious after finishing behind her “sis” again. She was sixth in Tokyo but got on the podium twice in Nairobi.
AFTERBURNERS
Masilingi made the best start, shooting out of the blocks and led by the 100m followed closely by Ofili.
However, once slow starting Mboma got into her running, there was only one outcome. The new world champion hauled her rivals in with about 70 metres to the tape and accelerated away to victory.
“The competition was really tough but what do you expect in a final?” Masilingi told World Athletics.
“To be honest the championships were really great this year. I enjoyed every bit of it. I am looking forward to next year,” she added.
Having fulfilled their ambition at junior level, Mboma and Masilingi have firmly set their sights on the lucrative Wanda Diamond League where the world’s best seniors compete.
Such is their quality that their podium times in Nairobi would have seen them end first and third in Saturday’s Diamond League meeting 200 m race in Eugene, USA.
Before the Olympics, Namibia’s terrific turbo teens ripped up the track on the European circuit in both the 200 and their primary 400 event.
However, two weeks before the Tokyo Games, WA barred them from competing in events between 400 metres and the mile due to its controversial rules over testosterone levels.
DISCRIMINATORY RULES
Under World Athletics rules, Mbomba and Masilingi’s rare physiology is deemed to give them an unfair competitive advantage in those events.
They were forced to drop down to the 200m and have since flourished remarkably at the distance.
WA president Sebastian Coe said the discriminatory rules are “here to stay”, which means Mboma and Masingi will indefinitely not be racing in the 400m.
It comes after a correction to 2017 data which was part of the evidence that led to the introduction of the rules.
The correction led to calls for a suspension of the rules for athletes with differences of sexual development.
But Coe said: “We absolutely stand by those regulations,” BBC reported shortly after Mboma’s victory on Saturday.
A correction to the data appeared in the British Journal of Sports Medicine with the scientists behind it accepting it “could have been misleading”.
Lawyers for South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya – barred from defending her Olympic 800m title at the Tokyo Games under the Difference in Sex Development (DSD) regulations – then argued the rules should be suspended.
“There is 10 years of solid science that underpins the regulations,” Coe told the BBC on Saturday when asked about the issue.
“I am sorry if there are athletes who have been misled by self interested and conflicted observations often by lawyers. The reality is that the rules are here to stay.”
