10 Sep 2024

As the athletics season comes to an end, the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) reflects on the year 2024 which is no doubt a fruitful year for the association, especially for track activities.

The BAA vice president, Oabona Theetso, said in an interview that having sent 12 athletes to the Olympic Games and bringing home two medals was something to write home about. 

Theetso said for the first time in history, Botswana managed to make it to the 100m final through Letsile Tebogo. 

“Also, he was the first Motswana to ring the bell after winning a gold medal in the 200m finals. In addition to that, we also managed to win a silver medal in the 4x400m men relay,” he said. 

Furthermore, he said even though the youth team did not win medals at the World Athletics Junior Championships held in Lima, Peru, they were happy that they gained the necessary exposure. 

“Let us not forget that this is a development side, and most of the time we don’t look for results from them; winning would have been a bonus,” he said. 

Nonetheless, Theetso said they were worried about thee cases of doping, which he said had a potential to cripple the good working they are doing. 

“It is very disappointing because it is like every year we have doping cases, but we will continue to engage our athletes, and teach them about the dangers of doping, and we must also appreciate the Anti-Doping office in Botswana.  

They are doing everything to educate the athletes,” he said. 

Theetso said the expectation was that the 2025 season would also favour them, adding that they have major events amongst them the World Athletics Relay billed for  Guangzhou, China. 

“Remember the relays were supposed to held in 2023, but that time both Guangzhou Organising Committee and the Chinese Athletics Association postponed the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. 

Furthermore, he said next year September, they would send a team to Tokyo to compete at the World Athletics Championships.

There are also the Africa Junior Championships billed for next year, he said. Talking about BAA competitions, the vice president said it was time they organised meets specifically for youth and juniors. 

“We have realised that putting youth, junior and senior in one competition denies the youth, opportunity to compete especially that the seniors always dominate the races,”  he said. Ends