22 Jan 2024

Faulty equipment at the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) track and field series one event held in Francistown on January 20 resulted in delays and disqualifications.

BAA vice president, Oabona Theetso explained that the starting system lacked signals, which led to confusion and missed start.

He said without proper signals, athletes might not know when to begin their race, leading to false starts and re-starts.

Theetso said a race typically involved sensors placed in each starting block and the sensors send a signal to the starting gun, which then triggers the start of the race.

In the case of the BAA event, it is possible that one or more of the transponders were not working properly, leading to a delayed start.

He explained that the signals were not being properly received by the starting gun.

This raised questions about the adequacy of the equipment and the association’s efforts to ensure a smooth event. With athletes and spectators alike growing frustrated, the integrity of the competition was called into question. As the starting gun sounded, athletes took their marks, only to be met with a series of blaring errors.

The start of the race was delayed, and when it finally began, some athletes were disqualified due to false starts caused by faulty equipment. In the 100m senior women’s race, two runners were disqualified after the starting equipment malfunctioned, leading to confusion and concern that the disqualifications may not have been based on merit.

This further raises questions about the reliability of the equipment and whether it is capable of providing a fair and accurate outcome for athletes.

Even before the race began, officials were seen scrambling to fix the malfunctioning starting equipment.

This added to the frustration of athletes and spectators, who were left waiting as the event was delayed. One runner who was disqualified expressed frustration with the machines, saying that they sometimes detect false starts when none have occurred.

The runner, who did not want to be named, added that even when cleared by officials, they were still flagged as having false started, leading to their disqualification.

“This highlights the complex and frustrating nature of the situation, with both the machines and the officials struggling to get things right,” said the runner.

However, Theetso responded that those who were disqualified were disqualified because of the mistakes they made not because the machine was malfunctioning.

A spectator, Israel Mlungisi commented, ‘It is not fair to the athletes to rely on such unreliable technology.

Without a backup system, the chance of athletes being unfairly disqualified is much higher. Another BAA official and board member, Isaac Mbise said the malfunctioning of the electronic timing machine caused significant delays and frustrations. ENDS