27 Aug 2023

Tshepiso ‘Machine’ Masalela showed determination and a never say die attitude against a world-class field of athletes when he came seventh out of eight runners in 800 metres registering 1:45.57 at the just ended World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday.

Despite failing to make it to the podium, Batswana were proud of the athlete performances given that he did not qualify to the championships with time, but with points.

He made it to the finals in his World Championship debut and has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

National team coach, Chilume Ntshwarang said learning the ropes at the world champion level had its challenges.

He said coming up with different running plans or tactics was not wise because an athlete could panic when plans did not work out.

Therefore, he said Masalela came up with a different plan in the finals as he decided to run with the pacesetters and that it was suicidal.

He added that he lost his tactical precision and was not decisive of what he wanted to do.

Meanwhile, Botswana’s 4x400m women relay team failed to advance to the finals after finishing ninth in the heats with a time of 3:31.85.

ENDS