Olympic silver medallist Christine Mboma will miss the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, coach Henk Botha has confirmed.

The athlete has been suffering from a rare rectus femoris injury in her right leg, which she picked up at the World Athletics Continental Tour in Nairobi, Kenya, in May.

“I can now confirm that Christine will not compete in Oregon because of the injury.

We have seen at least three specialists and she is now rehabilitating.

“We will take it week by week, hoping that she will be ready for the Commonwealth games or other events later on,” Botha said.

It is understood that the Namibian athlete hurt her rectus femoris muscle in her hip.

The rectus femoris is the flexor of the thigh at the hip, and it is situated in the middle of the front of the thigh.

“This is not something we wanted to hear or see but we have to accept it and continue working hard towards her recovery.

“All that I know is that Christine is a strong young woman and she will come back stronger than ever before.

“We are making sure that she gets the best treatment and rehabilitation to avoid any future reassurances,” Botha added.

Namibian star

Mboma won a silver medal in the 200m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first-ever Namibian woman to win a women’s Olympic medal and breaking a world under-20 and African senior record.

The Namibian also won another gold medal at the 2021 World U20 Championships.

She continued with her scintillating form after winning a gold medal at the Diamond League final, improving her record mark to 21.78 seconds.

In 2021, Mboma set an unratified world under-20 and African senior record of 48.54 seconds in the 400m, which made her the seventh-fastest woman of all time.

The athlete was favourite to challenge Jamaica’s trio Shericka Jackson, Elaine Thompson-Hera and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at the world championships in July.

The coach further revealed that Beatrice Masilingi, who is currently training under a new coach in South Africa, is likely to represent Namibia at the championships.

“I think Beatrice will be going because she is currently training in South Africa,” Botha said