Former middle-distance star now chases criminals

ONE-TIME Olympic Games middle-distance runner Tjipekapora Melody Herunga was a true workhorse on the athletics track.

It did not come as a surprise that her former trainer and current mentor, Letu Hamhola, describes her as courageous.

He says the former Namibian 400m record holder is “a very dedicated and disciplined athlete”.

Born at Ehungiro village in the Otjinene constituency of the Omaheke region, Herunga starrted running long-distance races at Clemence Ngatjizeko Primary School.

“I loved running so much, and I did not care much about the distance until I went to Ella du Plessis Secondary School in Windhoek in 2005. Before that I also played netball at Gustav Kandjii Junior Secondary School at Otjinene.

“I just ran as long as I was on the track. I did the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and I also ran the 1 500m at Clemence Ngatjizeko, where I also played netball.

"The sport officer for the Omaheke region, Stanley Tjozongoro, eventually advised me to choose between athletics and netball.”

Herunga subsequently dropped the 800m and 1 500m, which helped build her endurance for the 400m, which she started dominating during her days at Welwitschia Athletics Club, after short stints with Sunshine Athletics Club and Winners Athletics Club in Windhoek.

She idolised Agnes Samaria Veino growing up, but put these sentiments aside when she smashed the former Namibian 400m star's record to set a new record that stood for just over a decade.

This was only recently beaten by Beatrice Masilingi and Christine Mboma.

The former Ella du Plessis pupil set the record at 51.24 seconds in 2012 during the South African Open Championships in Pretoria.

Christine Mboma is the current record holder, with a time of 48.54 seconds which she set on 30 June 2021 at the Irena Szewinska Memorial in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

A double bronze winner in the 200m and 400m at the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, Herunga proved to the rest of the continent that her previous wins were no fluke by repeating the same feat during the All-Africa Games hosted by Congo in 2015.

Herunga, together with Globine Mayova, Mberihonga Kandovasu and Lilianne Klaasman are the national record holders in the 4x400m thanks to their sterling performance at the Internaitonal Amateur Athletic Federation Relays Meeting in Nassau, Bahamas, on 3 May 2015, in an impressive time of 3:40.21.

The retired star may not have clinched herself a podium spot during her only appearance at the 2012 Olympics in London, England, but Herunga will be remembered for reaching the semi-final during which she achieved a very credible fourth place in athletic terms.

“My participation at the Olympics was a lifetime experience and something I will cherish for as long as I am alive. I could never have imagined this young girl from Otjinene running against the best athletes in the world.

“Being an Olympian also opened many doors for me, and I am a proud member of the World Olympic Association.

"They have a programme called Life After Sport, which is designed to look after athletes once they retire from athletics,” Herunga says.

As a former Olympian Herunga has received a pin and a certificate, and she was nominated by the Namibian National Olympic Committee to attend a meeting of former Olympians, which was hosted by Egypt early this year.

She, however, says she was disappointed to be omitted from the Namibian team that went to the 2016 Olympics, because she qualified but was disqualified after she and the other athletes who were studying and training in Jamaica did not participate in the African Athletics Championships.

“The whole story stings. First we were told there was no money to fly us from Jamaica to South Africa for the African Championships, but the next moment we are told we could not go to the Olympics because we failed to go to South Africa.

“Is that really fair?” Herunga asks.

She was studying sport science in Jamaica with the other three athletes, but had to return because they were told that there was no money to pay for their studies and their upkeep in the Caribbean.

The original Namibian contingent in Jamaica involved 13 individuals.

LOVING WORK

Herunga has been employed in the crime-prevention department of the Namibian Police since she returned from the London Olympics in 2012.

“This job is no walk in the park. I am more at work than I have time for myself to relax.

"I do shifts, so my lifestyle is affected a little. We have morning, afternoon and night shifts. I don't sit idle. If I am not at home I am at the gym because I am very aware of my weight.

“However, I love every minute of my job no matter how dangerous. It is really a challenge to prevent crime, and you just pray you are still alive after a long and tiring shift,” she says.

Herunga, who spent six of her nine years at the police in Jamaica, says they deal with different crime aspects, such as robberies and dead bodies, because the police are expected to be at a crime scene first.