01 May 2023

The level of competition and attendance of the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix, which was held at the National Stadium has impressed the World Athletics.

The meet attracted quite a number of the world greatest athletes and Personal Best times were recorded at the event.

This alone gave the World Athletics a ray of hope that with improvement in certain areas Botswana is on the right track.

The organisation’s head of media operations and projects integration communications department Zacharias Vailakis said in an interview that Botswana should keep the same level of athletes when coming to the completion next year.

He said the euphoria amongst the spectators was good during the race, adding that the organisers should invest in bringing more young people to watch the event.

However, Vailakis said the organisers needed to improve on the level of operations for the media and broadcasters.

He said he was still to meet with other stakeholders and organisers to iron out certain areas that needed improvement.

FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix spokesperson, Calistus Kolantsho said it was their first edition since they were given a gold status by the World Athletics, adding that he was happy that they received positive reviews from different stakeholders.

He said they almost filled 15 000 seats, adding that even at the major events it was always difficult to attract such a high number.

Furthermore, he said the meet produced good times as some athletes clocked Personal Best times, National Records and World Lead times.

He however admitted that there  were a lot of areas that needed improvement, adding that all their departments; be it technical, security or transport, had to put more effort to get things right.

“For example, at the mixed zone, which should be accessed by athletes and the media, the public got access, and that is unacceptable,” he said.

Kolantsho said the other issue was that athletes had to wait for too long a time to be transported back to their hotels, something he said need to be addressed. ENDS