05 Sep 2024

Botswana’s Paralympic athlete, Edwin ‘Tiger’ Masuge has finished fifth in the Men’s 400m T13 final with a Personal Best time of 49.38 at the ongoing Paralympic Games held in Paris, France on Thursday.

  Algerian Djamil Athmani, who clocked 47.43, won the gold medal, silver went to Ryota Fukunaga of Japan with 48.07, while Brainer Bermudez of Columbia settled for bronze with an Area Record of 48.83.

  Masuge started slow and found it difficult to recover in the last 100m and caught up with the other athletes who were ahead of him.

   National team coach, Nason Maotwe said the athlete ran a good race and managed to clock a personal best time.

   “I think it is a big improvement from 49.93 to 49.38. Yes we wanted a podium finish but that was not to be today,” he said.

Maotwe attributed their performance to heavy rainfall and cold weather that was experienced in Paris before the race.

  “We are not used to train and run in this kind of weather and I think it really affected his start,” he said.

    The coach applauded Masuge’s fighting spirit, given that in the back straight, he managed to recover and pushed harder.

  “Even the time difference between him and Bermudez who won a bronze medal was not that much, and I am impressed,” he said.

 Furthermore, he said they would continue to work hard so that the athlete improves his position in future competitions.

   Botswana had entered only one athlete in the event, and this therefore means his Paralympic journey in Paris has come to an end. ENDS