07 Sep 2016

 Batswana will this evening be glued to their television sets to see if the only paralympian, Keatlaretse Mabote, will restore the countriy’s pride at Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Last month Botswana athletes who competed at the Olympics could not make it to the podium and expectations are that this time Mabote would give the nation something to celebrate.

Mabote said in an interview that since arriving in Rio, they had been working on his speed and endurance.

He said like any other athlete, his mission was to reach the final given that in that stage anything is possible.

“The only problem is that I sustained a hamstring injury while I was at training camp in Germany and now I can feel it”, Mabote said.

Athletics analyst Billy Tambula said he was confident that Mabote could shake the world.

He said after qualifying last year at Congo Brazzaville’s All Africa Games (AAG) to reach the finals of 400m T12,  Mabote had been doing well in his preparations. 

He said during his preparations, Mabote managed to win bronze in both 400m and 200m in Tunisia, and won a bronze at championships in 400m, while in Germany he clinched bronze in 400m and silver 200m.

Tambula said although  the athlete did not manage to lower his personal best of  50.19  this year, his season best was  51.34 which still fell in an A standard.

Furthermore, he said his SB alone spoke volumes, adding that “it simply means he is in good shape and I believe he’s the one to watch during the competition and I suspect he will go far in the competition. 

I believe that he will be one of the strongest athletes”.

Tambula said he was aware that there might be a lot of pressure on Mabote, given that he was the only one carrying the nation’s hope, adding the most important thing for him was to enjoy his race. ENDS