14 Sep 2014

Sports has been said to be central to efforts aimed at forging unity among people.

In his speech marking the official opening of this year’s Olympic Games celebrations held in Masunga on Saturday September 13, former President Sir Ketumile Masire said it was worth noting that sport remained one key vehicle through which peaceful co-existence among people could be achieved.

He thus implored all to not only look at sport from the recreational point of view, but to understand that sport had a much greater role to play in people’s lives.

Sir Ketumile also pointed out that sport was crucial in that it could help one to achieve greater things in life.

He said the continued achievements of sportsmen and women in the likes of Nijel Amos provided clear evidence of that fact.

He therefore appealed to his audience never to limit the possibilities of the benefits that stood to be reaped from engaging in sporting activities.

The former president said it was important to note that engaging in sporting activities was not only beneficial to the body but also to emotional wellbeing as well as the general state of the mind.

Earlier while welcoming guests, Kgosi Thabo Maruje III of Masunga had noted that the event had provided participants and the public with a golden opportunity to enjoy the joy derivable from sport.

Kgosi Maruje III also observed that with sport being unifying by nature, it was only right for the community to bask in the opportunity they had been afforded through the event to come together as one.

He also pleaded with Batswana to not take for granted the peace and unity they enjoyed as a nation; encouraging them to fully appreciate the depth of its significance.

The national Olympic Games celebrations which had been postponed from June to September due to the fact that Botswana had to host the recent 2^nd Africa Youth Games saw people of different ages participating in different sporting activities.

The highlight of the event proved to be the 10km marathon as well as the 10km cycling.

In the cycling category, spectators were treated to a spectacle as the three elderly women who were participating did not want anyone to outshine them.

Though failing to win against the much younger male competitors, they managed to beat a few of the young men hands down, reaching the finishing point among deafening cheers from the spectators. ENDS