Namibia’s medal hopefuls at this year’s London Olympics, long-distance queen Helalia Johannes and cyclist Dan Craven are both in their final preparations for the Olympics, which get underway in London next month.

FNB Namibia has undertaken to support these two athletes including shootist Gaby Ahrens and marathoner Beata Naigambo with an amount of N$100 000 each towards training and other necessities in their preparation towards the multi-sports global showpiece.

Craven is currently training at his European base, Bristol in the UK.

“Training was going really well until I was involved in a crash during a race in Ireland two weeks ago. I was forced to take seven days off the bike after the incident, but have been getting back into the swing of training very quickly since then and I am glad to say that I lost less fitness than I had initially feared.”

The Omaruru-born cyclist added that he might be heading to the United States for a training camp very soon and will be spending several weeks in Belgium for a series of races in the run-up to the games for his final preparation.

Craven said the support from FNB Namibia increased his budget by nearly 50 percent and he thanked the bank for their investment in Namibian sport.

“FNB support has made it possible for me to add many things into my training that I could never afford in the past. I have been working with a world-class personal trainer over the last two months, which has added a whole new side of improvement to my training. I have been able to buy several new pieces of equipment which I have wanted for years but that I have never been able to afford, both for racing and training.”

He said the trips to the US and to Belgium would both not have been possible were it not for FNB’s assistance.

Meanwhile, Johannes is currently training on home soil. She expressed delight with the assistance from FNB Namibia.

“The funds I received helped me a lot to buy supplements and other sports equipment needed. I was also able to travel to Austria where I took part in the Vienna Marathon on April 15, 2011 where I finished 3rd with a new national secord of 02:27:20.”

The long-distance runner also participated in a 10-km race in India in May as part of her preparations for the Olympics.