Letter from Namibia: The standout performers from Oran 2026 with an eye on LA28

One of the standout performances from the recent Oran 2026 African Archery Championships was the success of the southern African nation of Namibia. The nation finished second on the medal table, behind hosts Algeria, with six compound gold medals across team and individual events.

It’s not the first time Namibia has competed or medalled at the continental championships, but the federation has a renewed focus with the LA28 Olympic Games on the horizon.

“It’s important for us, I think, as a member association, to go and compete there on the stage,” said Jacqueline Coetzee. “But also to put compound mixed teams in the mix, to really show Africa that we are a force to be reckoned with. That we really have the ability to, and I think a very good chance to be able to be the team to go to LA.”

Coetzee took another individual compound women’s continental title after a previous win at the Nabeul 2023 African Archery Championships – as well as being a coach for the para archery team and the secretary general of the federation.

Namibia is an enormous country – it could swallow a huge chunk of Western Europe – but with a population of just three million people.

The executive board of the national federation is made up of its archers.

“In a sense it makes it easier because you know what the archers need and, you know, you can speak basically for yourself as well. You know what you need, and you need to fight for it. But also, there’s a lot of responsibility,” said Coetzee.

In Oran, the Namibian pairing of Jannie Meuwesen and top seed Elisabeth Taljaard beat Nigeria with a comeback in the third set to take mixed team gold.

In LA28, 16 mixed teams will compete for the first-ever Olympic compound title, and one of those team spots is guaranteed to Africa.

Other African nations with active compound archers, such as South Africa, Mauritius and Nigeria, will also be striving for the spots – but the medals in Oran are a key milestone in attracting the national funding required to get to the next stage.

While the national Olympic committee has identified archery as an opportunity, nothing is yet guaranteed.

“It’s also inspiring to the young ones to see the success,” said Coetzee. “When we talk about development and introduction of archery in the country, it is to use the success as a background as well. To say, listen, this is what we’ve accomplished already, this is the way you can go.”

“I only started in 2019, so anything is possible! I know there’s a lot of people that think, ‘Yeah, but I’m too old to start with something.’ You’re never too old! It’s not just for the youth, it’s not just for the young ones, but it’s also for the rest of the able and disabled community.”

Federation president Jannie Meuwesen took another of the individual compound golds for Namibia on Saturday in Oran, beating last year’s winner Adrien Charoux 133-128 in the most challenging wind of the tournament.

Despite his experience, it was the Namibian archer’s first international medal in World Archery competition – although the 46-year-old has twice been world field champion under the IFAA banner.

However, with limited time and resources, he decided to forego international field competitions this year to focus on target and the goal of LA28.

“There’s a lot of preparation still to be done, but very happy and very, very excited for that for sure,” said Jannie. “I think our archery is in a much better space than before.”

“There’s also a possibility that development will expand in the next few months. We are still busy with a few things there, but we’ll get that sorted as quickly as possible to see that we have even more athletes in the future.”

The next big milestone is the African Games in Cairo, Egypt, in September 2027, which will serve as a continental qualifier for LA28.

The 14th edition includes archery competition for the second time, after a previous appearance at Rabat 2019, which served as the continental qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The challenge is not just to make it to LA28 – somehow – but to grow the sport further, while wearing the hats of both federation officials and competitors – and, in Coetzee’s case, coach.

“I mean, it was tough to get here. But there’s so many wonderful people that I’ve met here,” said Coetzee. “It’s not just the competition. It is off the field, on the field, meeting new people from all over Africa. It is such a privilege just to be here and getting to know people.”

“It’s not just a team sport, so it’s self-discipline – that’s really a big thing that you have to work on. It is really in my heart to get more young athletes on the archery line.”