Namibia’s 100-metre women’s record holder, Beatrice Masilingi, will make her debut at the Aliann Pompey (AP) Invitational Track and Field Meet, which is set for June 22nd at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
This was confirmed by a release from the organising committee. According to the correspondence, Masilingi, who holds the national record of 11.20 seconds, is a 2021 World U-20 100m silver medalist, and will utilise the event, which is part of the World Athletics Continental Tour, as her last chance to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games following a return to the international circuit after serving a suspension imposed by World Athletics due to elevated testosterone levels.
“In 2021, a week before the Tokyo Olympic Games, World Athletics barred Masilingi and her compatriot Christine Mboma from competing in events between 400 m and one mile unless they agreed to take drugs to lower their natural testosterone levels. The pair competed in the 200m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where Masilingi finished sixth and Mboma took silver, finishing behind Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah”, the release stated.
Masilingi will join 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago and 2023 Central American and Pan Am Games silver medalist Jasmine Abrams in a star-studded field for the event. It will also feature Guyana’s CARIFTA Games 100m champion, Athaleyha Hinckson.
