05 Jun 2018

Former 100m national record holder, Yateya Kambepera has resurfaced in constituency athletics competitions after a lengthy injury layoff.
The Maun-based sprinter has not competed in local competitions for a long time due to a debilitating muscle injury which almost ended his athletics career, but is now back on track and aiming to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games.
He claimed first position in 100m, 200m, 4x1, and 4x4 relay over the weekend at the Maun Sports Complex during constituency athletics competitions.
“My focus now is athletics and I want to be part of the team that will be competing at the Olympics in 2020,” said Kambepera.
He explained that his reason for competing in constituency competitions was to guage his fitness and whether he had recovered from the injury, adding that he was slowly getting better.
In 2012, he sensationally won the 100m and 200m titles at the Senn Food National Athletics Championships in Gaborone, setting a new national record of 10.36 seconds for 100m and came close to qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games.
“I was in the premier team training for six months in South Africa, then I went to Germany  and was very close to meeting the A (qualification) standard, but I then sustained an injury,” he said.
Kambepera explained that he was self-training and hoped he would be competing in local competitions next year in an attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games.
The 28-year-old athlete said he was following a training programme designed by one of the reputable coaches in South Africa, Jean Verste, who once coached Nigel Amos.
He said many local coaches had shown interest in him, but he was reluctant to work with them.
“Local coaches are only interested in athletes when they are shining, but when they encounter problems such as injury they neglect them,” said Kambepera, explaining that he was neglected during his injury struggle.
He revealed that a physiologist from South Africa, who analysed his injuries, found that he had skipped the development stage during training.
Kambepera said there was no balance between his speed, strength and tissues.
“In this case, I was supposed to have been taken out of the track and run long distances in order to harden the tissues so that they were able to resist any body mass that came with speed. But local coaches wanted to see me on track all the time,” he said.
He said he has already started running long distances, revealing that last year, he ran 42km at his own pace while he ran 25km this year.
Kambepera also stated that he ran another 30km using different terrain where there was sand and gravel.
“The whole essence is to get the tissues to be strong enough, after doing this, I will be back on the ground training and working on my speed,” he said.  ENDS