11 Jan 2016

The 20^th Africa Senior Champonships, which will be held in June in Durban, will present a rare opportunity  for parents of local athletes to watch their daughters and sons live in action against Africa’s best.  

 Other sports loving Batswana will also have the opportunity to watch athletes such as Galefele Moroko, Lydia Jele, Nijel Amos, Onkabetse Nkobolo, Isaac Makwala, Baboloki Thebe, Karabo Sibanda and Boitumelo Masilo live should they travel with the team to Durban. 

Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) secretary, Kebaitse Legojane says their intention is to send more athletes to Durban because of its proximity and hence less costs compared to sending the team to north Africa for example

He, however, said he was not in a position to state how many athletes they would send to Durban, adding that the important aspect was to send athletes who would compete and bring medals.

According to Legojane, the Durban competitions would also give local athletes an opportunity to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games.

“This competitions will be used as Rio qualifications which started last year and the closing date is July 4. Durban will be part of the Olympics preparation for our athletes who have already qualified so as to gauge if they are ready,” he said.

He said the association was worried because women athletes were yet to qualify, adding that they were confident that some women would make it at Durban after the international athletics governing body IAAF has adjusted qualifying standards for about 17 codes.

Initially the 400 metres women were supposed to clock 52:00 which has since been adjusted to 52:20. The 800 metres qualification time has been adjusted from 2:01.00 to 2:01.50, while the high jump was 1.94 but moved to 1.93.

Women athletes who are near qualification are Lydia Jele and Christine Botlogetswe. Legojane also said the women’s 4x400meters relay team was ranked sixth in the world, and that they were also near  qualification.

“We have been depending on Amantle Montsho to represent women, but I am confident that in Durban we might see two or three women qualifying and showing the nation that they are also capable,” he said.

In 2012, he noted that local athletes managed to win four medals, three gold and one silver, whereas in 2014 a total of seven medals were won, four gold, one silver and two bronze, adding that this year their desire was to beat their own record. Ends