25 Feb 2016

Five athletes and one official from Maldives Olympic Committee are in Botswana to undergo extensive training in preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 

A press release from  Botswana National Olympic Committees (BNOC) says the initiative is the beginning of hopefully a long term collaboration between the National Olympic Committees (NOC) of the two countries to share resources and experiences in building on their relationship of promoting elite sport. 

“The idea is that the Maldives will bring athletes to Botswana on a rotational basis, with each group coming for a predetermined period of time,” says the release.

The athletes will be based at the Botswana National Sports Commission’s Athletes Village and will train at the National Stadium, under the guidance of Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) coaches.

According to the release, the BNOC chief executive officer Tuelo Serufho said “We are delighted with the arrangement. It is such an honour to us for Maldives to have chosen Botswana for their final leg of training and preparation for Rio 2016 Olympic Games ahead of many other countries they could have elected.”

He further said they would offer the Maldives all the necessary support while in Botswana.

The Maldives is an Indian Ocean Asian Island with a population of about 393 500 as per the 2013 estimates. 

The secretary general of the Maldives Olympic Committee, Ahmed Marzooq, applauded the partnership with Botswana as a great move for their athletes.

“As a small nation, with limited resources, by opening their arms to accept and help us, it is a good message to big countries with all the facilities and resources. 

Botswana is showing that sports is about helping each other with resources we have.” the secretary general added.

The Maldives have never been able to qualify for Olympics in athletics.

The release says while there were bigger countries, with better sporting infrastructure and other amenities, the Maldives has been impressed by Botswana’s performance on the international sporting arena, given the country’s relatively small population size as well as an economy that is still growing and currently graded upper middle class.

The Maldives will be covering the costs of their delegation in Botswana.

Amongst other things not only is this arrangement between the BNOC and its Maldives counterpart a positive step towards Botswana being a centre of sport excellence in future but it is also contributing to tourism and other national imperatives. Ends