19 Dec 2024

The year 2024 was undoublelty a successful one in sport with some sporting codes proving their mettle at the international stages.

Athletics

The pinnacle of Botswana sport was when Botswana sprint sensation Letsile Tebogo   made history for Botswana at the Paris 2024 Games winning the first Olympic gold medal for the country. Still at the Olympic, Tebogo anchored the 4x400m men’s relay team made up of Bayapo Ndori, Collen Kebatshipi and Anthony Pesela to win a silver with a time of 2:54.53 behind their track nemesis United States of America who claimed gold medal with an Olympic Record of 2:54.43.

Straight from the Olympics, Tebogo continued to ravage the track, as his presence was strongly felt in different Diamond League meetings, although he didn't win the trophy at the Diamond League final as it was won by USA’s Kenneth Bednarek. Tebogo continued to hoist the countries flag by winning two World Athletics awards of Male World Athlete Of The Year as well as Male Track Athlete Of The Year.

Football

Botswana Football Association elected Tariq Babitseng its president, taking over from Maclean Letshwiti who was seeking a third in office. Zebras coach Didier Gomes da Rosa dropped a bomb shell, after guiding the team to back to back victories against Cape Verde and putting them in a good position to qualify for the AFCON 2025 finals, as he announced his immediate resignation. Zebras has since qualified for the coming AFCon 2025.

BFA appointed Jwaneng Galaxy coach Morena Ramoreboli, who did not disappoint as his team managed to hold Egypt to an all one draw, to make it to the 2025 edition which will be held in Morocco, ending a 12 years of qualification drought. The Zebras were in Group C, together with Africa’s powerhouse Egypt, Cape Verde and Mauritania. They finished on position two behind Egypt with eight points.

Motorsport

Ross Branch made the country proud in October as he became the first rider in Africa to win the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC). At the Dakar Rally in January the Kalahari Ferrari finished second behind USA’s Ricky Brabec who clocked a time of 51:30:08, and Branch was 10:53 behind the champion. Branch ended the year on a high note as he was crowned FIM "Hero of the Year" at the 2024 Awards in Palma, Majorca in Spain.

Tennis

Botswana Tennis Association this year made strides by hosting high profile tournaments, amongst them the Davis Cup, J30, J60 and J100, with Botswana tennis prodigy Mark Nawa winning the International Tennis Federation (ITF) J30 World Tour Juniors boys singles title by beating South African  Siyabonga Jaca 7-6, 6-2. They then hosted the African Junior Team Competition and 12 teams drawn with close to seventy 70 competitors from African countries in both the girls and boys 12 and under categories. The participating teams in the boy’s category were Botswana, Tunisia, Algeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Guinea, Ghana, Cameroon. In the girls category there was Botswana, Tunisia, Algeria, South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Uganda, Guinea, Benin, Cameroon. However, Botswana did not make it to the finals, in both the girls and boys categories, but the little ones performed well.

 In November Botswana rising and promising tennis player, Malak Macheng,  delivered the first ever ITF /CAT under 14 circuit girls singles gold medal, after beating Rutendo Tom of Zimbabwe 6-3, 6-4 in a nail-biting final played at National Tennis Centre. Malak defended her tittle in the second leg of the tournament beating the same opponent in the singles finals. Not only did she deliver the singles medal, but together with her partner Angel Chakanyuka won back to back girls doubles.

Swimming

Team Botswana competed at the XX Africa Aquatics Zone IV championships which were held in Namibia and 19 swimmers represented the country. They brought 18 medals home, with seven silver and 11 bronze and a lot of players managed to register their Personal Best times.

African Games

Botswana competed at the 13th African Games which were held in Accra, Ghana, and they returned home with 13 medals, three silver, and ten bronze medal.The silver medals were won by Victor Ntweng in the men’s 400m hurdles, 4 x400 m men’s relay and mixed relay. The bronze medals were won by Tisang in men’s 400m hurdles, Tumo Nkape in men’s 800m and the women’s 4X400m relay team. Karate team also salvaged two bronze medals won by Lethabo Sekano in Kumite and the women’s Kata team. Swimmer Adrian Robinson won two bronze medals, women boxer Keamogetse Kenosi men’s beach volleyball team, and Karabo Kula of Taekwondo also won bronze medals.

Volleyball

Despite a dry spell with limited activities due to financial constraints, the Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) ended the year on a high note by hosting the  Zone VI Senior Club Volleyball Championships in Gaborone from December 05-15, 2024. Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) demonstrated its commitment to sports development by sponsoring the event with P250 000.

 Botswana was on the men side represented by Spiking Stars, Kalavango, Yaros, BDF VI, Police VI, Mag Stimela and Prisons VI. On the women’s side, the country was represented by Spiking Stars, BDF VI, Police VI, Mafolofolo and Kutlwano. Other clubs partaking in the championships were from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Eswatini, South Africa, Mozambique and Angola.

Cricket,

 The Botswana Cricket Association has announced that the men’s national team, Baggy Blues have secured a spot in the Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers Africa Finals. The Baggy Blues made it to the finals after registering three consecutive victories against  Eswatini, St Helena and Ivory Coast at the  ICC Men’s T20 Africa Sub-Regional Qualifier C in Abuja, Nigeria.

Table Tennis

The Botswana Table Tennis Association (BTTA) hosted the Continental Hopes Week and Challenge in July 09-14. The tournament catered for U-12 players and brought together young talent from across Africa to compete and hone their skills. The BTTA president, Kudzanani Motswagole was equally recognised for his efforts in developing table tennis as he was elected into eight member committee of the International Table Tennis Association (ITTF) Africa Council and ITTF Board at an elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  BTTA also closed the year on a high note by hosting the Commonwealth Youth U13 development championships, the Regional U15 tournament on December 12-15. The two competitions have attracted and confirmed participation of players from Region V.

Taekwondo

On October 27, the Botswana Taekwondo Federation hosted the second Botswana Taekwondo Open President’s Cup 2024 at Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN). President of the federationpresident of federation, Tumelo Mapila said the tournament was held rotationally by countries in the southern region adding that the Botswana Taekwondo Open President’s Cup was more than just a competition, as it was also a celebration of unity, excellence and the relentless pursuit of greatness.

Badminton

On November 21-24, the Botswana Badminton Association hosted the Botswana International Series 2024 at Otse Police College Gymnasium. The  event attracted top tier players from Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Azerbijan, Israel, Malta, Cook Islands, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Uganda and South Africa. ENDS