Namibia at the 2012 Summer Olympics explained

Noc:NAM
Nocname:Namibian National Olympic Committee
Games:Summer Olympics
Year:2012
Location:London
Competitors:9
Sports:5
Flagbearer:Gaby Ahrens (opening)[1]
Sem Shilimela (closing)
Gold:0
Silver:0
Bronze:0
Appearances:auto
App Begin Year:1992

Namibia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's sixth consecutive appearance at the Olympics.

Namibian National Olympic Committee sent a total of 9 athletes to the Games, 5 men and 4 women, to compete in 5 sports. Three Namibian athletes had competed in Beijing, including marathon runner Beata Naigambo, the oldest member of the team, at age 32, and trap shooter Gaby Ahrens, who became the nation's first female flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Namibia also marked its Olympic return in freestyle wrestling after an eight-year absence.

Namibia, however, failed to win a single Olympic medal for the fourth consecutive time.

Background

Namibia made its debut at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and appeared at all subsequent Games before the 2012 Summer Olympics in London - the country's sixth Olympics.[2] Namibia sent its greatest number of athletes - 11 - to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The country's most successful athlete is 100 and 200 metres runner Frankie Fredericks who won silver in both disciplines at Namibia's inaugural Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, and at the Atlanta Olympics four years later. Fredericks, the only Namibian athlete to win an Olympic medal as of 2012, missed the Sydney Olympics in 2000 due to an Achilles injury and was unsuccessful in his attempts to win further medals at his final Olympics in Athens in 2004.[3] [4]

Nine athletes were selected by Namibia to participate at the 2012 Olympics.[5] Trap shooter Gaby Ahrens bore the flag for the country at the opening ceremony of the Games.[6] She was joined in the Namibian Olympic team by cyclists Marc Bassingthwaighte and Dan Craven; runners Tjipekapora Herunga, Helalia Johannes and Beata Naigambo; boxers Mujandjae Kasuto and Jonas Matheus; and wrestler Naatele Sem Shilimela.

Athletics

See main article: Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Namibian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard):[7]

Women
AthleteEventHeat SemifinalFinal
ResultRankResultRankResultRank
Tjipekapora Herunga400 m52.313 Q52.536Did not advance
Helalia Johannesalign=left rowspan=2Marathon2:26:0912
Beata Naigambo2:31:1638

Boxing

See main article: Boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Namibia has qualified two boxers.[8]

Men
AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Opposition
Result
Rank
Jonas MatheusBantamweight
L 7–18
Did not advance
Mujandjae KasutoMiddleweight
W 11–8

L 7–16
Did not advance

Cycling

See main article: Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Namibia has qualified the following cyclists for the Games.

Mountain biking

[9]

Shooting

See main article: Shooting at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Namibia has earned one quota place for shooting events;[10]

Women

Wrestling

See main article: Wrestling at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Sem Shilimela represented Namibia in London. Shilimela received a bye into the last 16, where he faced Dzhamal Otarsultanov of Russia, losing 0–3 on points. Shilimela received a bye through the first round of the repechage, then again lost 0–3 on points to North Korean Yang Kyong-il in the second round.[11]

Men's freestyle

Notes and References

  1. News: Staff . 19 July 2012 . Namibia: Pohamba Bid Olympians Farewell . . 19 July 2012.
  2. Web site: Sports Reference – Namibia . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417092041/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/NAM/ . dead . 17 April 2020 . . 15 October 2016.
  3. Web site: A gentleman and a scholar . Duncan Mackay . . 15 October 2016.
  4. Web site: Sports Reference – Frankie Fredericks . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417094023/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fr/frankie-fredericks-1.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . . 15 October 2016.
  5. Web site: Sports Reference – Namibia . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417092041/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/NAM/summer/2012/ . dead . 17 April 2020 . . 15 October 2016.
  6. Web site: Sports Reference – Gaby Ahrens . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418004226/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ah/gaby-ahrens-1.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . . 15 October 2016.
  7. Web site: iaaf.org – Top Lists. IAAF. 4 June 2011.
  8. Web site: Final African Olympic Quota Places revealed. 5 May 2012. AIBA. 8 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20150322065056/http://aiba.org/en-US/news/ozqsp/newsId/4729/news.aspx. 22 March 2015. dead.
  9. Web site: Men Elite African Championships (RSA/CC) Cross Country 2011. 12 Feb 2011. UCI. 26 May 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111007115201/http://www.uci.infostradasports.com/asp/lib/TheASP.asp?PageID=19006&SportID=304&CompetitionID=19382&EditionID=641639&SeasonID=480&ClassID=1&GenderID=1&EventID=9549&EventPhaseID=0&Phase1ID=0&Phase2ID=0&Phase3ID=0&PhaseClassificationID=-1&Detail=1&Ranking=0&All=0&TaalCode=2&StyleID=0&Cache=8. 7 October 2011.
  10. Web site: Quota places by NATION and Name . 8 March 2011 . ISSF . 16 June 2011 . 5 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140405211236/http://www.issf-sports.org/results/og_qualification/quota_places/quota_places_by_nation_and_name.ashx . dead .
  11. Web site: Sports Reference – Naatele Shilimela . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418110321/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sh/naatele-shilimela-1.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . . 30 October 2016.