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19386-Lahja Ishitile photo

Lahja Ishitile

Namibian flag
Namibia
Athletics

Biography

Impairment information

Type of Impairment
Vision impairment
Origin of Impairment
Acquired
Classification
T11, F11
Guide
Sem Shimanda; Sydney Kamuaruuma

Further personal information

Occupation
Athlete, Student
Languages
English

Sport specific information

When and where did you begin this sport?
She took up Para athletics in 2012 at Eluwa Special School in Ongwediva, Namibia.
Why this sport?
She got involved in the sport to stay busy at school.

International debut

Year
2013
Competing for
Namibia

General interest

Hobbies
Singing. (Athlete, 11 Nov 2019)
Memorable sporting achievement
Winning a bronze medal in the T12 100m at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. (Athlete, 11 Nov 2019)
Most influential person in career
Her teacher Ms Ester, and her parents. (Athlete, 23 Oct 2015; namibian.com.na, 26 May 2016; Facebook page, 29 Aug 2019)
Hero / Idol
Zambian athletics coach Michael Hamukwaya, Namibian Para sprinters Johanna Benson and Johannes Nambala. (Facebook page, 29 Aug 2019; namibian.com.na, 26 May 2016; Athlete, 23 Oct 2015)
Awards and honours
In 2017 and 2019 she was presented with the Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability Award at the Namibian Sports Awards. (nbc.na, 28 Oct 2019; neweralive.na, 30 Oct 2017)

She was given the Disabled Junior Sportswoman Award at the 2015 Namibia Sports Commission Sports Awards. (neweralive.na, 21 Oct 2015)

In 2015 she received a Sporting Achievement Award from Disability Sport Namibia. (namibiansun.com, 19 Oct 2015)
Ambitions
To win a gold medal at the Paralympic Games. (Facebook page, 28 Apr 2017)
Impairment
Her vision impairment is the result of an eye infection at age seven. She lost sight in both eyes completely at age 11. (namibian.com.na, 26 May 2016; Athlete, 23 Oct 2015 )

Results

Unit Date Rank
IPC Athletics World Championships (Lyon, France)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's 100 m T11 Semifinal 3 2013-07-22 5
Women's 400 m T11 Semifinal 1 2013-07-24 4
Women's 400 m T11 Final 1 2013-07-25 4
IPC Athletics 2015 World Championships (Doha, Qatar)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's 400 m T11 Heat 2 2015-10-22 7
Women's 200 m T11 Heat 4 2015-10-24 13
Women's 100 m T11 Heat 2 2015-10-27 9
Rio 2016 Paralympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's 100 m T11 Heat 4 2016-09-08 2
Women's 100 m T11 Heat 1 2016-09-09 4
Women's 200 m T11 Heat 1 2016-09-12 3
Women's 200 m T11 Heat 1 2016-09-12 2
Women's 400 m T11 Heat 1 2016-09-15 2
World Para Athletics Championships London 2017 (London, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Women's 200 m T11 Heat 2 2017-07-15 7
Women's 400 m T11 Heat 2 2017-07-16 5