Kinda crowned world champion in 400m sprint

T11 sprinter Chris Kinda and his guide Riwaldo Goagoseb were crowned champions of the 400-metre sprint at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships on Sunday after coming from behind to finish first in the final of the men’s event.
The World Para Athletics Championships are underway in Kobe, Japan, at the Universiade Memorial Stadium.
The 25-year-old Namibian sprinter, competing at his second world champs, made the final Saturday afternoon after winning his heat with a time of 51.79 seconds, the fastest time from all three heats run on the day.
On Sunday, Kinda and Goagoseb put in an exceptional sprint, winning a gold medal in a rainy Kobe stadium. To be crowned world champion for the first time in his career, Kinda and Goagoseb clocked a time of 52.35 seconds to finish ahead of Eduardo Manuel Uceda Novas and his guide Diego Foldago Munoz of Spain, and former world champion Felipe de Souza Gomes and guide Jonas Alexandre de Lima Silva of Brazil, who finished second and third, respectively.
The Namibian sprinter and his guide demonstrated a strong desire and determination to win. They came from third position with 100m to go and finished at the top of the podium. With that win, the Katutura-born athlete became a world champion in the T11 400m for the first time.
In an interview with Nampa, his coach T’Neil Young said they are having an eventful world championship in what is her first competition with the Paralympic team. Young said she is happy to see the hard work put in during training yielding fruit.
“I am super proud of Chris and his guide Kelvin (Goagoseb). I have put them through a lot, and they made a great success of all the hard work,” she said.
Meanwhile, Lahja Ishitile and her guide Sem Shimanda won a bronze medal, marking Namibia’s second medal at the championship. They finished third in the 400m sprint with a time of 58.37 seconds.
The gold was won by Brazilian sprinter Talitha da Silva and her guide Felipe da Silva with a time of 57.45 seconds, while the silver went to Liu Ciuqing and guide Chen Shengming with a time of 58.32 seconds.
Johannes Nambala, Namibia’s T13 sprinter, qualified for the final of the T13 100m with a season best time of 11.46 seconds, finishing fourth in heat two and seventh overall.
The fastest time in the T13 100m heats was clocked by Skander Djamil Athmani of Algeria at 10.75 seconds.
(NAMPA)
HK/AS/PS
(NAMPA)