13 Dec 2015

If how one started a race had much of a bearing on how one finished the race, it would undoubtedly have been a gloomy day for Central District’s Kagiso Kebatshwaretse.

He nearly bit the  dust during the finals of the 5000m race at the Francistown Sports Complex during the fourth Botswana Games.

At the start of the race, Kebatshwaretse, buried in the midst of 21 other contenders who similarly wanted to win the hearts of the spectators at the stadium, did not stand out in any way. 

As the race progressed into the third lap, the 17 year-old out-of-school lad from Tsetsebjwe however began to make his presence felt, slowly widening the gap between himself and the rest of the pack.

By the fifth lap, it was clear that the hopes by the rest of the other athletes to clinch gold had diminished; their race was now for only silver and bronze.

Kebatshwaretse, who has in the past participated in the COSSASA, African Youth Games as well as the Commonwealth Games, cruised to victory in a time of 15:44:41, leaving Ernest Maluta of Selebi Phikwe and Southern District’s Kealeboga Kgalemang who had run neck-to-neck throughout the race to fight for the rest of the spoils.

The fight between the duo saw Maluta beat Kgalemang to clinch silver in a time of 16:04:38 to the latter’s 16:17:25.

Similarly, in the women’s 5000m race, the eventual winner, Politeness Seane, also of Central District, seemed not to want to draw any attention to herself as she kept a constant position in the middle, at times even being at the point of almost trailing behind.

It was not until the ninth lap that she began to prove her mettle, erasing any doubts in the hearts of the spectators that made up the sizeable crowd that came to watch the day’s activities, proving that she too, like her male counterpart was destined for gold.

By that time, a couple of competitors, like the proverbial seed that fell by the wayside, had one at a time collapsed, thus proving themselves not worthy of the medals they had so badly wanted to win to make a name for themselves and their districts.

At the end of the race, Seane’s team-mate Oratile Nowe added on to Central District’s jubilation by clinching silver in 20:04:48, while Selebi Phikwe’s Kewagamang Gabanthate settled for a bronze medal in a time of 20:24:26. 

In the end, it was clear that Central District ruled the 5000m race as it raked in three medals, while Selebi Phikwe and Southern got one each. Ends