Do or die for Agnes at Olympics

BEIJING – It is do or die for Namibia’s Agnes Samaria when she steps on the track for the 1 500 metres semi-final race in Beijing today.

The race will take place at around 12h00 Namibian time. Going into retirement after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the race will be Samaria’s last chance for an Olympic medal, and she therefore has to qualify for the final to make her medal dream come true.Speaking to Nampa during a body check by masseur Benny Obermuller at the Olympic Village on Tuesday, Samaria said after having slipped up during the 800m heats four days ago, she just has to make it to the final of the 1 500m race.”I have to qualify, nothing else,” she said, adding that she learnt from her 800m race not to wait for other runners but to follow her own race plan.”Sometimes I think too much about losing and pay a lot of attention to the other runners, and end up on the tail-end of things,” she noted.”And with no heats because of only 36 runners, the final is so much closer,” she said.”I will stay focused and motivated and if I have to dig deeper, I will go beyond 100 per cent,” she said while telling Obermuller to go easy on the massage.However, because there are only two semi-final heats, it will be a hard race because all runners will be panicking, pushing and be aggressive, she said.”I thus have to respond properly.No more nice-nice running, only nasty running,” she mused.Although it is not her specialty, the 1 500m is what she actually trained for to compete in at the Beijing Olympics.It is the first time that she is doing the 1 500m at the Olympics.Samaria said she tries not to think of the race too much and relaxes by watching television, going for walks and chatting to fellow athletes and coaches.”It is good to have distractions because it relieves a little bit of the stress, but I have not lost focus,” she added.NampaGoing into retirement after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the race will be Samaria’s last chance for an Olympic medal, and she therefore has to qualify for the final to make her medal dream come true.Speaking to Nampa during a body check by masseur Benny Obermuller at the Olympic Village on Tuesday, Samaria said after having slipped up during the 800m heats four days ago, she just has to make it to the final of the 1 500m race.”I have to qualify, nothing else,” she said, adding that she learnt from her 800m race not to wait for other runners but to follow her own race plan.”Sometimes I think too much about losing and pay a lot of attention to the other runners, and end up on the tail-end of things,” she noted.”And with no heats because of only 36 runners, the final is so much closer,” she said.”I will stay focused and motivated and if I have to dig deeper, I will go beyond 100 per cent,” she said while telling Obermuller to go easy on the massage.However, because there are only two semi-final heats, it will be a hard race because all runners will be panicking, pushing and be aggressive, she said.”I thus have to respond properly.No more nice-nice running, only nasty running,” she mused.Although it is not her specialty, the 1 500m is what she actually trained for to compete in at the Beijing Olympics.It is the first time that she is doing the 1 500m at the Olympics.Samaria said she tries not to think of the race too much and relaxes by watching television, going for walks and chatting to fellow athletes and coaches.”It is good to have distractions because it relieves a little bit of the stress, but I have not lost focus,” she added.Nampa