Jansen using Berlin Grand Prix as benchmark for 2020 Paralympic Games

BERLIN, 29 JUN  – Dian Jansen says his performance in the 2018 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Berlin Grand Prix will set the benchmark for his participation in future competitions.
Jansen competes in shot put, discus and javelin in the F44 category, which applies to athletes with impairments in their lower limbs or with a unilateral or combination of lower limb impairments resulting in functional loss in one foot, ankle and/or lower leg.
The Grand Prix takes place at Berlin’s Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sportpark Saturday and Sunday.
Jansen, who was Namibia’s sole representative at the 2017 World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland, told Nampa on Wednesday this year is his busiest and he will take whatever lessons he can learn at the Grand Prix to improve his sporting career.
“I am currently in my matric year and I have been focusing on my studies most of the time, but competing in these championships in Germany is an experience I needed to help improve my athletic career for future competitions,” he said.
The young athlete, who has previously represented Namibia at able bodied competitions through the Namibia Schools Sport Union, is this year competing in his first senior competition in the F44 category.
He said his goal in Berlin is to put his personal best into his three events.
“I can’t wait to compete because this is bigger than all the competitions I competed in before. I started practising for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games last year but started slow as I had to put a lot of work into this year’s event,” Jansen said.
The lively young athlete also told this news agency he enjoys playing rugby as a fly half, but he wants to improve in shot put, javelin and discus throw and hopefully represent Namibia at the All Africa Games in 2019 and in the Paralympic Games in Japan.

NAMPA