24 Mar 2022

Botswana Boxing Association’s (BoBA) first Olympian, Magare Thekiso, will be laid to rest in Lorwaneng tomorrow.

The former boxer, who represented the country in different competitions such as 1988 Olympics in Seoul, died on Saturday.

Thekiso worked for Jwaneng Mine and was a coach for Dinotshi Boxing Club in the mining town.

He coached boxers of note in the likes of the late Herbet Nkabiti and Thina Mosau.

In an interview on Wednesday, Elijah Kwenaetsile, who is also a coach at Dinotshi, indicated that Thekiso was rushed to Jwaneng hospital on Friday and transferred to Princess Marina Hospital, where it was discovered that he had suffered a stroke.

He said Thekiso was a friendly person, but was also a disciplined, focused and determined individual.

His passing, he said, was not only a loss to his family but the nation at large.

Kwenaetsile said Thekiso, who left behind a wife and four children,  was born in Kanye, 1966.

A memorial service would be held in Lobatse today.

For his part, former national team boxer, Healer Modiradilo, indicated that Thekiso, who was known as Rista in boxing circles inspired a lot of boxers.

“Being the first Botswana Olympian inspired us a lot. We all had to push ourselves, with the hope to be where he was,” he said.

He said Rista believed in hard work and was a disciplined individual, adding that they worked well as team mates.

“I enjoyed working with Rista and that contributed to my personal development in sport,” he lamented.

Modiradilo said Botswana’s first Olympian was always fit going into competitions, noting that his last major competition was the 1995 national boxing championships, where he won bantam weight gold medal, which was the only one for his club.

Upon retirement, he said Thekiso started assisting Dinotshi club as a coach and produced former national team boxers such as Kwenaetsile, Thato Batshegi, Michael Rantsho and many more. ENDS