The Namibia rugby team
The most popular sport in Namibia is association football. The Namibia national football team qualified for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations but has yet to qualify for any World Cups.
The most successful national team is the Namibian rugby team, having competed in five separate World Cups. Namibia participated in the 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups. Cricket is also popular, with the national side having played in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. In December 2017, Namibia Cricket reached the final of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Provincial One Day Challenge for the first time. In February 2018 Namibia will host the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 with Namibia, Kenya, UAE, Nepal, Canada and Oman to compete for the final two ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier positions in Zimbabwe.
Netball is popular as well.
Inline hockey was first played in 1995 and has also become more and more popular in the last years. The Women’s inline hockey National Team participated in the 2008 FIRS World Championships.
Namibia is the home for one of the toughest footraces in the world, the Namibian ultra marathon.
The most famous athlete from Namibia is Frankie Fredericks, sprinter in the 100 and 200 m events. He won four Olympic silver medals (1992, 1996) and also has medals from several World Athletics Championships. He is also known for humanitarian activities in Namibia and beyond. Golfer Trevor Dodds won the Greater Greensboro Open in 1998, one of 15 tournaments in his career. He achieved a career high world ranking of 78th in 1998. Professional cyclist and Namibian Road Race champion Dan Craven represented Namibia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in both the road race and individual time trial. Boxer Julius Indongo is the unified WBA, IBF, and IBO world champion in the Light welterweight division.
The Swakopmund Skydiving Club in Swakopmund was founded in 1974, and operates from Swakopmund Airport.
