Namibia first competed in the World Athletics Championships (then known as the World Championships in Athletics) in 1991, and have taken part in every Championships since. During that period two athletes won five medals for the country. Their most recent medal had come during the 1997 Championships. To qualify for the World Championships, athletes had to meet the standards set by the IAAF (now known as World Athletics). In most disciplines, these criteria were more difficult to achieve than they had been for the 2017 Championships. Two athletes represented Namibia at the 2019 Championships: Tomas Hilifa Rainhold in the men's marathon and Helalia Johannes in the women's marathon. Rainhold qualified for the Championships courtesy of completing the Hamburg Marathon in 2:14:14, 1 minute and 46 seconds within the required standard of 2:16:00. Johannes, who was the reigning Commonwealth champion after winning the 2018 marathon had set a new Namibia national record in March 2019, running 2:22:25 to win the Nagoya Women's Marathon, well within the required 2:37:00. The two athletes were accompanied by their coach Robert Kaxuxuena.