The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Namibia

Icon of occuation in country

This page contains a list of the greatest Namibian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 3 of which were born in Namibia. This makes Namibia the birth place of the 98th most number of Athletes behind Malaysia, and Eritrea.

Top 7

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Namibian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Namibian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Frankie Fredericks

1. Frankie Fredericks (b. 1967)

With an HPI of 47.09, Frankie Fredericks is the most famous Namibian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages on wikipedia.

Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's only Olympic medalist until Christine Mboma's silver medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. He also won gold medals at the World Championships, World Indoor Championships, All-Africa Games and Commonwealth Games. He is the world indoor record-holder for 200 metres, with a time of 19.92 seconds set in 1996. Fredericks has broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres 24 times. He also holds the joint-third-fastest non-winning time for the 200 metres. In August 1996, Fredericks ran 19.68 seconds in the Olympic final in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also the oldest man to have broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres. On 12 July 2002 in Rome, Fredericks won the 200 metres in a time of 19.99 seconds at the age of 34 years 283 days. He is currently serving as a council member in the IAAF. On 3 March 2017, Fredericks was implicated in the IAAF corruption scandal, stemming from a large cash payment he received in 2009. The investigation is still to be concluded.

Photo of Helalia Johannes

2. Helalia Johannes (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 25.55, Helalia Johannes is the 2nd most famous Namibian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Helalia Lukeiko Johannes (born 13 August 1980), also known as Hilaria Johannes, is a Namibian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. She holds the Namibian records in the 10 km, 20 km, half marathon and marathon events. At 39 years of age, she became a World Championships bronze medallist in the marathon. She represented her country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2012 London Olympics and 2018 Commonwealth Games and has won medals at the World Championships, Military World Games, the All-Africa Games and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Photo of Christine Mboma

3. Christine Mboma (b. 2003)

With an HPI of 21.20, Christine Mboma is the 3rd most famous Namibian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Christine Mboma (born 22 May 2003) is a Namibian sprinter who competes in the 100 metres and 200 m. At the age of 18, she won a silver medal in the 200 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first ever Namibian woman to win a women's Olympic medal and breaking the world under-20 and African senior record. Mboma also won the event at the 2021 World Under-20 Championships and Diamond League final, improving her record mark to 21.78 seconds. In 2021, the 18-year-old set an unratified world under-20 and African senior record of 48.54 s in the 400 metres, which made her the seventh-fastest woman of all time at the event. The mark was established in June, while Mboma had previously twice broken a world U20 record in April of that year. Prior to the Tokyo Games, World Athletics had announced that Mboma and fellow Namibian sprinter Beatrice Masilingi would not be allowed to compete under the female classification in events between 400 metres and one mile due to its regulations on testosterone levels for athletes with XY disorders of sex development. Christine Mboma has joined the American-based international CLD Sports marketing and management agency.

Photo of Phillip Seidler

4. Phillip Seidler (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 0.00, Phillip Seidler is the 4th most famous Namibian Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Phillip Seidler (born 25 March 1998) is a Namibian swimmer.

Photo of Beatrice Masilingi

5. Beatrice Masilingi (b. 2003)

With an HPI of 0.00, Beatrice Masilingi is the 5th most famous Namibian Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into different languages.

Beatrice Masilingi (born 10 April 2003) is a Namibian sprinter. At the age of 18, she placed sixth in the 200 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, having made the final along with fellow Namibian sprinter and eventual silver medallist Christine Mboma. Masilingi won silver medals in both the 100 metres and 200 m at the 2021 World Under-20 Championships. Masilingi achieved in the 400 metres the second-fastest world under-18 time, and the third-fastest world under-20 time in history, with her marks of 50.42 and 49.53 seconds set in December 2020 and April 2021, respectively. Weeks before the 2021 Tokyo Games, World Athletics had announced that both Masilingi and Mboma would not be allowed to compete under the female classification in events between 400 metres and one mile due to its regulations on testosterone levels for athletes with XY disorders of sex development.

Photo of Maike Diekmann

6. Maike Diekmann (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 0.00, Maike Diekmann is the 6th most famous Namibian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Maike Betts(neé Diekmann) is a Namibian rower. She competed in the women's single sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She began rowing during her third year attending Rhodes University in South Africa and represented Namibia for the first time at the 2015 African Olympic Qualification Regatta held in Tunisia.

Photo of Tsolmonbaataryn Anudari

7. Tsolmonbaataryn Anudari (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 0.00, Tsolmonbaataryn Anudari is the 7th most famous Namibian Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Tsolmonbaataryn Anudari (Mongolian: Цолмонбаатарын Анударь; born 9 July 1997) is a Mongolian sports shooter. She competed in the women's 10 metre air pistol event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

People

Pantheon has 7 people classified as Namibian athletes born between 1967 and 2003. Of these 7, 7 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Namibian athletes include Frankie Fredericks, Helalia Johannes, and Christine Mboma. As of April 2024, 4 new Namibian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Phillip Seidler, Beatrice Masilingi, and Maike Diekmann.

Living Namibian Athletes

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Newly Added Namibian Athletes (2024)

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous