Namibian team set for first international test
Namibia’s Para Taekwondo team is set for its first international test next week when the country’s athletes compete at the Gangwon Chuncheon World Para Taekwondo Open Challenge in South Korea.
The event, scheduled for 8 to 9 July, will come after the Namibian team completes its development training camp at Taekwondowon in Muju, where athletes from around the world have gathered to prepare for the challenge.
World Taekwondo confirmed that Namibia is taking part in a World Taekwondo Para event for the first time, marking an important step in the country’s early push towards the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games qualification pathway.
The Namibian contingent comprises Victory Negumbo from Oshakati, Killian Teopolina from Eenhana, Cobie Bok from Windhoek, Anastacia Ndondi from Mariental and Sarafina Jonas from Okalongo in the Omusati Region.
The athletes compete in the K44 class. The “K” refers to kyorugi, the Korean term for sparring, while K44 is the Para Taekwondo sparring class for athletes with upper-limb impairments. Bouts are contested according to weight divisions.
Training in Muju
The Muju camp opened this week with about 70 Para Taekwondoin from more than 20 member national associations, the World Taekwondo Refugee Team and World Taekwondo (Costa Rica) registered for the programme.
The camp includes sessions on power and precision, defence and counter-attacking, competition simulation, and recovery and refinement.
Namibia’s participation in South Korea follows an inaugural six-day training camp held in Windhoek in May at Jan Möhr Secondary School and a dojo in Khomasdal.
That camp was spearheaded by head coach Geneva de Jager, alongside senseis Warren de Jager and Martin Sarry Neumbo, as part of the team’s preparations for South Korea.
De Jager said the athletes have already shown improvement since arriving in Muju, while acknowledging that there is still a lot to learn at this level.
“At this training camp, we have seen the big margin between what we can do now and what is still to come. Even after the first day, the progress is clear, and with [a few] more days ahead, everything is going well,” she said.
International exposure
According to the Namibian delegation, the camp has also placed the country among a small group of developing Para Taekwondo nations gaining exposure in South Korea, with Namibia standing as the only Southern African Development Community (SADC) nation represented.
The team said the experience is an important step in building the sport locally and exposing the athletes to higher-level training, international competition standards and technical demands.
The Namibian delegation expressed gratitude to the Namibia National Paralympic Committee (NNPC) and the Namibia Sports Commission for supporting the team’s participation.
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