08 May 2016

Botswana 4x400m men relay team hoisted the country’s flag high, Friday  when they scooped position one in an IAAF Diamond League meeting held in Doha.

The  team,  made of Baboloki ‘G-man’ Thebe, Nijel ‘Zoro’ Amos, Zachariah ‘Molweni’ Kamberuka,and  Gaone ‘Lux’ Maotoanong,  clocked 3:02.29,followed by Japan with 3:02.45 while the host, Qatar scooped position three with 3:03.91.

France clocked 3:03.93 to finish on position four, on position five was Saudi Arabia with 3:07.44, Poland settled for position six with 3:08.74, while South Africa did not finish the relay

Thebe who started the relay and maintained the first position ran 44.8, handed the baton to Amos who also did not give their opponents a chance to recover, running 45.2, while Kamberuka and Maotoanong took on the third and last laps with 46.65 and 45.48 respectively.

Amos told BOPA after the race that the team gave their best and fought till the end, adding the weather was just fine and it did not deter them from pushing from the first whistle.

Thebe, who was making his debut in the 4x400m men relay team, said he enjoyed the race and he was not under any pressure. He said they wanted to win the relay at all costs, hence they started on a high note. Their Coach,  Justice Dipeba said  he was impressed by the team’s fighting spirit during the race, adding they had a brilliant first  leg, with  Baboloki coming in leading with a good margin and he ran a good split, which was also was fast.

Thebe handed to Amos who is an experienced first bend runner and he made sure he was at the break line first, and maintained the lead until the last 100m where he kicked to extend the lead and this was what they needed. Dipeba said he changed the line-up a few hours before the start after seeing other teams’ line up

Nijel handed the baton to Kamberuka who made sure he maintained the lead, “the damage was already done he just had to maintain and he did a good job and then we gave it Maotoanong who ran a smart last leg,” Dipeba said. Dipeba said Maotoanong made sure he did not kick too early and also made sure that nobody passed him. 

“It was brilliant to watch, first race as a new team and be able to put up a good time like this and I think we are on the right track,” he said 

Meanwhile Isaac Makwala finished on sixth position, recording 45.71. Talking about Makwala, Dipeba said the athlete was much consistent looking at the times he had ran so far and much better last year, adding he thinks he would be able to put up a good time in the next few races. ENDS