14 Dec 2021

Athletics is one code that continues to hoist the blue, black and white flag high in different competitions.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics it was athletics that won the solo medal, courtesy of the men’s 4x 400 relay team.

Just recently, it was once again athletics that won 30 of the 64 medals won by Botswana at the just ended AUSC Region 5 Games in Maseru, Lesotho.

Of the 30 medals, 16 were gold, seven silver and seven bronze; a feat that gives Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) the bragging rights of being the code of choice in the country.

The 400-metre rising star, Collen Kebinatshipi put the icing on the cake by qualifying for the Athletics U20 Championships to be held in Colombia next year, after clocking a time of 47.21.

The elated Botswana Athletics Association vice president, Oabona Theetso said they were left dumbfounded by the 30 medals, given that the team was made of school-going athletes.

“As you might be aware, school sport is on suspension since last year, the last edition was in 2019, so to assemble a team that we just picked from different clubs; yet sometimes they don’t have enough training time, but managed to win a good number of medals, makes us happy as BAA,” he said.

Furthermore, Theetso said the team’s achievement showed growth for the association, expressing hope that the win would motivate other young athletes, who might be sitting on their talent at home.

The vice president said he was confident that some of the athletes would qualify for the Athletics Under-20 Championships, judging from the team’s hunger and resilience.

“We have a good number of athletes whom I believe will hit the qualifying mark, among them Lundi Pinaemang and Thuso Omphile,” he said.

Theetso further said BAA was elated that Goitseone Joel was crowned high jump champion.

“Stakeholders have been complaining that we are more focused on track than field events, so I am happy we are making strides,” he said, adding that they managed to win in other track events in which they were not strong, such as steeple chase.

He said the team even managed to win the 1 500-metre race. ENDS