Johannes likely to miss Paris Olympic Games due to injury

• By Rudolf R. Gaiseb

THE country’s leading female marathon runner, Helalia Johannes says that she is not sure if she will be competing at the Olympic Games next year due to a calf injury, she sustained early this year.
Johannes, undoubtedly the country’s most successful marathon runner, is expected to represent the country again at the Olympic Games, which could also be her last games, but that will only depend on whether she recovers.

This also means she is set to miss the rescheduled All-Africa Games in Accra, Ghana, in March next year, which will also serve as one of the qualifier tournaments for the Olympic Games.

At 43, Johannes holds the Namibian records in the 10 km, 20 km, half marathon and marathon events.
At 39 years of age, she became a World Championships bronze medallist in the marathon in 2019 in Doha, Qatar.
Johannes previously represented the country at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London and the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

In 2018, she won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. In 2019, she won a bronze medal at the World Championships held in Doha, Qatar, before winning a bronze medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
In 2019, Johannes broke three Namibian records. She broke the Namibian marathon record to win the Nagoya Marathon in Japan at 2:22:25.

She also broke the Namibian half-marathon record in April 2019 at the Two Oceans Half Marathon in Cape Town, South Africa, running a winning time of 1:10:30, before she broke the 10 km record in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with a time of 31.50.

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