Tjipekapora Melody Herunga, a middle-distance runner in the Olympic Games, was a true workhorse at the athletics track.
It was not surprising that Letu Hamhola, her former trainer, described her as being courageous.
He says the former Namibian 400m record holder is “a very dedicated and disciplined athlete”.
Herunga was born in Ehungiro, a village in the Otjinene Constituency of the Omaheke Region. Herunga began her career by running long-distance races for Clemence Ngatjizeko Elementary 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. I used to play netball at Gustav Kandjii Jr Secondary School at Otjinene.
“I just ran as long as I was on the track. I ran the 100m. 200m. 400m. 800m. I also ran 1 500m at Clemence Nagatjizeko. There I also played netball.
“The sport officer for the Omaheke region, Stanley Tjozongoro, eventually advised me to choose between athletics and netball.”
Herunga dropped the 800m and the 1 500m later, which helped her build endurance for the 400m. She started to dominate the 400m during her time at Welwitschia Athletics Club. After brief stints with Sunshine Athletics Club or Winners Athletics Club in Windhoek, Herunga was back at the 800m.
Growing up, she idolized Agnes Samaria Veino, but she put aside these sentiments when she broke the former Namibian 400m star to set a new record that stood just over a decade.
Christine Mboma, Beatrice Masilingi, and Beatrice Masilingi have beaten this record.
The record was set by an ex-Ella du Plessis pupil in 2012 during the South African Open Championships. It was established in Pretoria.
Christine Mboma holds the current record with 48.54 seconds. She set it on 30 June 2021 at Bydgoszcz’s Irena Szewinska memorial.
Herunga was a double bronze winner in the 200m/400m at the 2011 All-Africa Games held in Maputo (Mozambique), and she proved to the rest of Africa that her previous wins were no fluke when she repeated the feat at the All-Africa Games hosted in Congo in 2015.
Herunga and Globine Mayova, Mberihonga Kandovasu, Lilianne Klaasman hold the national record in the 4x400m. Their sterling performance at the Internaitonal Amateur Athletic Federation Relays Meeting was in Nassau (Bahamas) on 3 May 2015 saw them clock in an impressive 3:40.21.
While the retired star may have not been able to secure a podium spot in her one appearance at the 2012 Olympics, London, England, Herunga will be remembered for reaching a semi-final during the Olympics, where she achieved an impressive 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 couldn’t have imagined that this young girl from Otjinene would be competing against the best athletes around 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.
Herunga was a former Olympian and was awarded a pin as well as a certificate. She was nominated to the Namibian National Olympic Committee for a meeting of former Olympians which was held in Egypt early this year.
However, she says she was disappointed to be excluded from the Namibian Olympic team. She qualified but was disqualified after she, along with other athletes training in Jamaica, did not compete in the African Athletics Championships.
“The whole story stings. We were initially told there was no money for us to fly from Jamaica to South Africa to participate in the African Championships. But then, we were told we couldn’t attend the Olympics because we didn’t travel to South Africa.
“Is that really fair?” Herunga asks.
She was studying sport science with the three other athletes in Jamaica. But she had to return because it was impossible to pay for their educations and their expenses in the Caribbean.
13 people were part of the original Namibian contingent in Jamaica.
LOVING WORK
Since her return from the London Olympics, Herunga has been working in the crime prevention department of the Namibian Police.
“This job is no walk in the park. I’m more involved at work than I am at home.
“I work shifts, so my life is affected a bit. We have morning, evening and night shifts. I don’t like to sit still. I exercise when I’m not at my home because I am 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 has spent six of her nine-years at the Jamaican police, said they deal with different aspects of crime, such as robberies, dead bodies, and that the police are expected first to a crime scene.
“Some of the scenes, especially the dead bodies, have a negative effect on your mental health, and it is quite challenging because those scenes stay in your system for long.
“Thankfully, we have social workers who assist us with mental challenges.”
The three-time Namibian sportswoman of the year’s advice to aspiring athletes is: “My emphasis is particularly on discipline, because it entails many facets of your life. For instance, if you are disciplined, you will never miss training, you will arrive early and you will give your all.”
Source: namibian