11 Aug 2022

Despite managing to garner only two out of eight targeted medals, Botswana cherishes lessons drawn from the just-ended Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as valuable for future games.

Team Botswana, which comprised 35 athletes, returned from the games on Wednesday, bringing a silver and bronze, courtesy of the 4x400 men’s relay team and a female boxer respectively.

“We were the defending champions in the 4x400m relay, but we managed a silver. Although our target was eight medals, we have achieved a lot, as some of our sporting codes such as lawn bowls reached quarter-finals for the first time.  Cyclists also reached the final stage for the first time in all their challenges of cross country mountain bike, time trials and road races,” said Chef De Mission for Team Botswana, Yarona Sharp.

Also of notable achievement, Sharp mentioned the boxing medal, saying it was a first for a Motswana female boxer to bag a medal from the games.

 “Boxing is seeing a medal for the first time in 16 years, and that in itself is an achievement,” said Sharp.

She said the achievements were not so much of medals, ‘but we have prepared for future major games’.

Sharp said going forth, they need more preparation and conditioning for such games.

Cyclist Gontse Lethokwe, who is a national cycling champion, said he was grateful for the Commonwealth experience.

He said the programme at the preparatory camp in Cardiff came in handy during the competition as it exposed him to the course because of being technically different from what the local races offered. 

“I am taking the experience from the Commonwealth to work more on my skills, especially the technical climbs and drops on the mountain bike challenge as they were giving me a bit of hard time.

I also plan on working more on my A lines as I have been doing more of B lines on road races,” Lethokwe said.

Lethokwe also appealed to the association to professionalise cycling as such would afford the cyclists enough time to train appropriately as well as prepare be at par with their counterparts on events of such magnitude.

For her part, boxing bronze medallist, Lethabo Modukanele said she was proud of her achievement.

“I am proud of what I have accomplished and wish for my female team mates to have won the medals,” Modukanele said.

She said hard work and preparation got her this win and ‘it was a long journey since the beginning of the year, playing tournaments to prepare for these games’.

Modukanele said from now on she would be preparing for Africa Boxing Championships and Olympic qualifiers.

 “We will be competing in whatever is available to us to gain experience and get us to a high level of competitiveness to get us to the Olympics,” said Modukanele.

This was Botswana’s 12th participation at this year’s Commonwealth Games, where the team competed in cycling, boxing, squash, judo, lawn bowls, swimming and athletics. ENDS