Johannes to shine in third Para Games

Johannes Nambala, Namibia’s sprint ace, is ready to kick off his 2024 Paris Paralympic Games adventure in the 100 and 400 metre T13 dash in France this coming Sunday.

The 33-year-old visually impaired runner's trophy cabinet boasts a whopping thirteen Paralympic Games, World Para Athletics Championships, and All Africa Games medals. The collection includes four gold, six silver, and three bronze medals which he has won since 2013.

Johannes was born on 15 February 1991 in Likokola, Owamboland, in which is now known as the Omusati Region. He attended Windhoek Technical High School and later studied at UNAM in Windhoek.

He took up athletics in 2012 at the age of 21 while in South Africa. He made his senior debut for Namibia the following year when he was selected for the Namibian team and travelled to Lyon, France, to compete at the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) 2013 World Para Athletics Championships.

In Lyon, he competed in three events, winning a silver in the 200 metres and becoming the first Namibian athlete to win an IPC World Para Athletics gold when he broke the championship record to take the 400 m title.

In the build-up to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Johannes took part in the 2015 IPC Para Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar. He secured two more World Para Championship medals: a bronze in the 400 m, despite posting a faster time than his title-winning time two years earlier, and a gold in the 200 m.

He followed up the World Para Championships with his first African Games, competing in the 400 m. His time of 48.49 was enough to beat his nearest rival, Algeria's Abdelatif Baka, and claim the gold medal.

The following year, at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics in Brazil, Johannes competed in three events: the 100 m, 200 m, and the 4x100 m relay. He won two silver medals, finishing second in both the 100 m and 400 m sprints. At his most recent Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, he won bronze in the 400 m.



Awards

Johannes was named the 2013 Para Sportsman of the Year by the Namibia Sports Commission. He also received a sporting achievement award from Disability Sports Namibia in 2015.



Milestones

In 2013, he became the first athlete representing Namibia to win a gold medal at the Para Athletics World Championships when he placed first in the 400m at the 2013 edition of the tournament in Lyon, France.



Medal Cabinet

Paralympic Games:

Silver: 2016 Rio de Janeiro (100m)

Silver: 2016 Rio de Janeiro (400m)

Bronze: 2020 Tokyo, Japan (400m)

World Para Championships:

Gold: 2013 Lyon (400m)

Gold: 2015 Doha (200m)

Gold: 2019 Dubai, United Arab Emirates (400m)

Silver: 2013 Lyon (200m)

Silver: 2017 London (200m)

Silver: 2017 London (400m)

Silver: 2023 Paris (400m)

Bronze: 2015 Doha (400m)

Bronze: 2019 Dubai (100m)

African Games:

Gold: 2015 Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo (400m)



African Competitors

In the 100m, Johannes will face fellow Africans like Skander Djamil Athmani (Algeria) and Samba Coulibaly (Mali), with world record holder Salum Ageze Kashafali (Norway) in the mix.

In the 400m, Johannes will square up against the Para World Record Holder (46.44) and Paralympic record holder (46.70) Skander Djamil Athmani, Abdellatif Baka (both Algerian), Edwin Masuge (Botswana), and Moses Misoya (Malawi).



Programme

The first round of the 100m is on Sunday from 11:42, followed by the final at 19:47. The 400m final is scheduled for 5 September at 10:00.