Frankie Fredericks '' The Namibian Cheetah''

The legendary Frankie Fredericks is a former track and field athlete from the land of the brave. known for running in the 100 meters and 200 meters . He is the only first able-bodied Namibian to ever win the Olympic and world championship medals up-to-date.

 

The 54 years old former track and field runner , was born and raised in the capital city of Namibia. His career started in high school when he was still a learner at Concondia College in the early 1980s.

After school he started working at Rossing Uranium Ltd ,were he was offered a scholarship at Brigham Young university in the US in 1987. He graduated with a degree in computer science. During his years at the university he won three National Collegiate Athletic Association championship. When he returned home In 1990, Namibia became independent and he had an opportunity to take part in the international competition . In 1992 in Barcelona summer Olympics ,he ran like a cheetah when he finished second in both 100 meters and 200 meters , with 10.02 seconds ,winning a silver medal. Winning this competition was a door opening for him.

from a silver medal to gold medalist ,in 1993 he became Namibia's first world champion ,winning the 200 meters in Stuttgart. The following year at Commonwealth Games , he won the 200 meters with the time  record of 19.97 seconds. In July 2002 he was appointed as International Association of Federations athletics, after winning in the 200 meters with the record of 19.99 seconds at the age of 34 years. His performance was outstanding he also took part in ALL-African Games and Afro-Asian Games were he won silver medals in 2003. He remains the oldest man to have broken 20 seconds for the 200 meters. 

Frankie Fredericks retired from competition in 2004 , when he came 4th at the summer Olympics. As he became influential athlete on the African continent he was a role model and created opportunities for the younger generation ,he was involved with International Olympic Committee ,World Anti-Doping Agency and the Head of Namibia Athletics.

After his athletics career ,he founded the Frank Fredericks foundation in 1999 a non-profitable  organization supporting talented athletes. In his speech at the opening , He said ''We want to ensure we give young talented Namibians an opportunity to grow and hopefully become the first Olympic gold medalist in the future.

The Olympic and World champion was named after a street in

  Windhoek, for honoring his achievements and contributions to country.

Frankie Fredericks remains the champion of the nation, and his legacy continues to influence young minds.