AS the teenagers he coached into the Tokyo Olympic Games 200 metres women’s final crossed the line, Henk Botha – oblivious to the cameras – dropped to his knees to thank God.
This is the image of the coach that went viral. It spoke both of his faith and an immense love and admiration for his two athletes – Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi. It was Mboma who grabbed the priceless silver against the world’s best this time, while Masilingi also announced herself as a future queen of global sprinting. And yet, Botha says he still cannot fathom what happened on Tuesday in Japan.
“It’s incredible what happened on Tuesday. I’m still trying to comprehend it all and I don’t know how to describe it in words. All I can say is that the girls sacrificed their lives on the track and ran like monsters – for themselves of course, but also for Namibia and for the pride of the nation, so we are very blessed.
“When I started coaching Christine she was still a 1 500m and 800m athlete, but I noticed her speed so I brought her down to the 400m and then the 200m, and as they say, the rest is history. Now we have a silver medallist at the Olympic Games, who is a beautiful child from Namibia’s grassroots, and I’m just so privileged to have been able to work with her,” he added.
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