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Icons of Namibia
Johanna Benson ‘Golden Girl’
Johanna Benson is a Paralympian athlete from Walvis Bay. She competes in T37 short distance sprint events in track and field. She won silver in the Women’s 100m – T37 Final on day four of the London 2012 Paralympic Games on 2 September 2012. She then went on to win gold ahead of Bethany Woodward of Great Britain in the Women’s 200m T37 Final on day seven of the London 2012 Paralympic Games on 5 September 2012. She has inspired Namibians of all ages and groups, evident in her warm welcome back in Namibia after the games from schoolchildren, sports personalities, businesspeople and government officials.
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Best of Namibia
After her parade down Independence Avenue in Windhoek on return, Benson was invited to a banquet at State House by President Hifikepunye Pohamba. The President awarded her a house of her choice in her hometown and she was presented with a diplomatic passport. This was in addition to the N$170,000 she earned from medal winnings. The president then also suggested that the Walvis Bay Municipality name a street after Benson. NamPower entered into a partnership with the Namibian Paralympics team in October 2011 and sponsored the team with N$700,000 before they left for the London Paralympic Games. www.namibiasport.com.na, www.namibian.com.na, allafrica.com
Frankie Fredericks
Namibia’s stellar sportsman and adored ambassador Frankie Fredericks was born on 2 October 1967 in Windhoek. He was Namibia’s first Olympic medallist after he won four silver medals in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games for running the 100m and 200m. He has also won gold medals at the World Championships, World Indoor Championships, All-Africa Games and Commonwealth Games. He holds the as yet unbroken Commonwealth Games world record of 19.92 seconds for 200m indoors which he achieved in 1996. Fredericks became the country’s first World Champion in 1993 by winning the