10 Aug 2022

For sometime,  Botswana has been known as one of the 400 metres countries.

However, the country’s fame and strength was put to test at the just ended Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

 And, Batswana saw what they did not expect as all the four athletes that the country fielded in the race failed to reach the finals

Contrast this with the country’s performance at the previous Gold Coast Commonwealth Games where it managed to win three medals in 400 metres, courtesy of Amantle Montsho and Isaac Makwala’s gold medals while Baboloki Thebe won silver.

The 4x400 metres relay team also won gold.

However, in this year’s edition the quartet of Leungo Scotch, Anthony Pesela, Zibani Ngozi and Lydia Jele only went as far as the semi-finals.

“This performance is worrisome and we need to go back to the drawing board as a matter of urgency,” said Team Botswana coach, Justice Dipeba, in an interview.

Dipeba said the athletes performed below par.

“For some reason, they were not able to tick and run good times. Honestly, it was tough and we failed to place ourselves in positions that would give us an opportunity to move to the next round,” he said.

Dipeba said the current season proved to be a struggle, given that athletes were not as sharp as in previous years.

“Not having a sizeable number of athletes running consistently under 44 area even low 44s is a challenge and it is going to be tough for us to compete with the world,” he adfded.

Dipeba said it was, therefore, important to push athletes a little bit harder so that they could be able to drop the time that would compete with the world.

“It is important for us to maintain the spark and our presence in the world when it comes to 400 metres. Therefore, we have to make sure that we get athletes who will be able to compete with the world and who are championship material,” he said. ENDS