Helalia proudly tackles her fifth Olympics

Namibia's marathon queen, Helalia Johannes, will line up with the world's best women's runners on Sunday morning at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games for the 08:00 starting gun.

As the oldest African competitor in the race, this will be Helalia’s fifth Olympic Games, just two days ahead of her 44th birthday.

She proudly made her debut at the 2008 Beijing Games, finishing 40th, followed by her very competitive 12th-place finish at the 2012 London Games, struggling through a hot and humid 2016 Rio Games (56th) and again being near the front for the 2021 Tokyo Games (11th).

The Namibian won marathon gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. At age 39 she became a bronze medallist at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Helalia rewrote her own Namibian marathon record on 6 December 2020 in Valencia, Spain, with a personal best of 2 hours 19 minutes 52 seconds.

The national 10 km road record of 30:59 belongs to her since June 2019, as well as the Namibian half-marathon record of 1:07:49 she ran in Gqeberha in June 2022.

Her fastest marathons for the past three seasons are 2:28:39 (2022, Birmingham), 2:31:33 (2023, Daegu, Korea) and 2:30:53 (April 2024, Vienna City Marathon). The latter performance in Austria places her at 275th on World Athletics top list for 2024.

Helalia will line up with eight athletes from SADC countries and 16 from the rest of Africa.

With the exclusion of Ethiopian-born Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands, road runners from Ethiopia (six) and Kenia (three) dominate World Athletics’ 2024 top list.

Gerda Steyn from South Africa and Jackline Sakilu from Tanzania could be the SADC’s strongest runners in Paris.

Africa will be represented by 24 athletes from 12 countries which includes eight runners from six SADC countries. A total of 91 runners will start on Sunday morning.



Notable achievers

2020 Olympic champion: Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya, 2 hours 27 minutes 20 seconds).

Olympic record: Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia, 2:23:07 in 2012).

2023 World champion: Amane Beriso Shankule (Ethiopia, 2:24:23).

World record (women’s only races): Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya, 2:16:16 in 2024).

2024 World leader: Sutume Asefa Kebede (Ethiopia, 2:15:55).



African contenders

Jepchirchir, Kebede, Shankule, Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) and Hellen Obiri (Kenya) all look to be in contention for gold. The rest will likely battle for silver and bronze.

Eritrea: Dolshi Tesfu (25 years, season’s best 2:21:34).

Ethiopia: Megertu Alemu (26, 2:16:34), Tigst Assefa (27, 2:16:23), Gotytom Gebreslase (29, 2:21:19), Amane Beriso Shankule (32, 2:16:58).

Kenya: Peres Jepchirchir (30, 2:16:16), Sharon Lokedi (30, 2:27:33), Hellen Obiri (34, 2:22:37).

Lesotho: Mokulubete Blandina Makatisi (28, 2:30:54).

Mauritius: Marie Perrier (29, 2:26:19).

Morocco: Kaoutar Farkoussi (28, 2:25:35), Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi (32, 2:24:12), Rahma Tahiri (25, 2:24:51).

Rwanda: Clementine Mukandanga (38, 2:25:54).

South Africa: Cian Oldknow (27, 2:25:08), Gerda Steyn (34, 2:24:03,), Irvette van Zyl (37, 2:27:29).

Tanzania: Jackline Sakilu (37, 2:21:27), Magdalena Shauri (28, 2:32:58).

Uganda: Mercyline Chelangat (26, 2:24:12), Rebecca Cheptegei (33, 2:34:08), Stella Chesang (27, 2:23:36).

Zimbabwe: Rutendo Joan Nyahora (35, 2:34:29).

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