Namibian Sherwin Vries plans track comeback in London

Former Namibian sprinter Sherwin Vries is planning a comeback to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London next summer.

Vries burst onto the scene in 1999 as a 19 year old when he broke Frank Fredericks' national junior 100m and 200m records with respective times of 10,27 and 20,67 seconds.

He represented Namibia at several international events including the 1999 All Africa Game and the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

In 2002 he however moved to South Africa, where he was granted citizenship a few years later.

He went on to represent South Africa in several international athletics events, including the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia and the 2007 All Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria. His last appearance for South Africa came in 2007 at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan.

At a press conference at the Namibia National Olympic Committee press conference on Monday, Vries said that he had not represented South Africa for the past four years and that he hoped to represent Namibia at the 2012 Olympics.

"Although I was competing for South Africa in the past, my heart was always in Namibia and I now hope to compete for Namibia at the 2012 Olympics," he said.

"When I went to the 2000 Olympics, I was young and it never really sunk in. I was talented, but I was ignorant," he addded.

Vries said that Namibian athletes had the talent to compete with the best in the world, but they just needed better coaching.

"Now I see so much potential amongst our youth, but we need to invest in our coaches if we want to improve. We don't lack the talent, but we lack the discipline and the resources," He said.

Olympic Day

Vries was speaking at a press conference to publicise the Olympic Day which will be held in Namibia on June 25.

Ndeulipulwa Hamutumwa of the Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC) said that Olympic Day was celebrated all over the world with the aim of promoting Olympic values and ethics and to bring athletes together.

"The NNOC will also celebrate the day in five Namibian towns. Our aim is to eventually bring the Olympic spirit to all of Namibia's towns," he said.

The five Namibian towns are Keetmanshoop, Okahandja, Tsumeb, Omaruru and Oshakati.

Joan Smit, the Deputy Secretary General Organising Committee of the NNOC said that several activities, including fun runs, dance competitions and street basketball competitions will be held on the day, while tree planting ceremonies will also take place.

"The International Olympic Committee strongly supports the protection of the environment and we will once again get the communities involved to plant trees on which we will paint the Olympic rings," she said.

The Olympic Day will be co-sponsored by Coca Cola who contributed N$25 000 and the NNOC.