From the Gym Floor to the Judges' Table
When Nadine Jaeger was told she had been selected to judge at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, she was in the middle of coaching. At first, the news barely registered. Then its significance began to sink in. She would become the first Namibian judge to officiate at a Youth Olympic Games.
It was the culmination of a journey that began decades earlier in Windhoek.
Nadine grew up around Gymnastics. Her mother coached trampolining, and she competed from an early age.
“I went to an Artistic Gymnastics session when I was seven years old and I never stopped,” she says.
She later represented Namibia at junior level, before stepping back from competition during her teenage years to focus on her studies. But Gymnastics remained part of her life.
After finishing school, Nadine approached her former coach and asked whether she could spend a gap year working at the gym. What began as a temporary plan quickly became a career.
She found a new sense of purpose in coaching young gymnasts in Windhoek, drawing on her own experience as an athlete and discovering a passion for helping others develop.
It was while she was coaching that the Namibian Gymnastics Federation encouraged her to apply for the Commonwealth Sport Women Leaders Programme (CWLP).
“I applied not thinking I would get it,” she says. “Then one day I received an email congratulating me and telling me I had been accepted.”
The programme supports women across the Commonwealth to move into leadership and decision-making roles in sport. For Nadine, it offered practical help at a crucial stage of her career.
She was paired with a mentor, Barbara Daniels, who helped her think more clearly about her ambitions and the steps required to achieve them.
Nadine had already set her sights on becoming an international Gymnastics judge. To do that, she needed to complete international judging courses and examinations, but the cost of attending them was a major barrier.
“The financial support meant I was able to attend courses that I would not otherwise have been able to afford,” she says. “I would not have been able to do it without Barbara or the scholarship funding.”
Over the course of the programme, Nadine and Barbara met regularly, working towards a long-term goal that once felt distant: judging at an Olympic event.
That goal became real when Nadine learned she had been selected for Dakar 2026.
The appointment has brought pride, excitement and pressure. It is a personal milestone, but also a first for Namibia.
“I’m very nervous because there are a lot of eyes on me, especially after everything that has been written about it,” she says.
“But I’m also very grateful. It is a first for the country, and it is exactly what I was working towards during the Women Leaders programme. I’m excited because now that part of the journey is actually here.”
Her progress has also created an opportunity to support others.
Nadine has since gone on to host courses and programmes that have supported the qualification of more than 30 judges in her local area, and offering the kind of guidance that once helped her move forward.
The shift from mentee to mentor is an important part of her story. Her achievement is not only about reaching Dakar. It is also about becoming part of a wider network of women helping one another progress through sport.
For now, Nadine’s focus is on the Youth Olympic Games and the responsibility that comes with representing Namibia on an international stage.
But the experience has already shaped the way she sees leadership.
“You don’t have to do everything alone,” she says. “Even if you want to be in a leadership position, find people who can help you get there.”
As Nadine represents Namibia in Dakar, she is also helping another woman progress through sport, passing on the support that helped make her own journey possible.
The Commonwealth Sport Women Leaders Programme is a comprehensive initiative aimed at supporting and empowering women from the Commonwealth on their personal development journeys towards becoming influential leaders and agents of change in the field of sports.
The programme offers scholarships of £5,000 to eligible female leaders to provide financial assistance on their individual development pathways. It is designed to provide a supportive and educational environment with mentorship so recipients are connected with an International Mentor who helps them clarify leadership aspirations, recognise strengths, and broaden understanding of promoting equality within the sports community. Click here to read more about the programme
