06 Feb 2017

Karabo Sibanda continued to stamp his authority in the 400 metres race, when he finished first in the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) track and field event at the National Stadium on Sunday.

Sibanda clocked 45:41 while Boitumelo Masilo of 800m followed with 46:19 and Onkabetse Nkobolo came third with 46:44.

It would seem many had expected Nkobolo to use the race to book himself a ticket to the World Championships.

Sibanda, on one hand, had already qualified for the 2017 London World Championships via the BAA track and field event that was held in Orapa recently with a time of 45:26.

He joined Baboloki Thebe of 400m and the 800m specialist, Nijel Amos who qualified by virtue of being African champions.

Sibanda said in an interview immediately after the race that he was aware that he clocked a low time compared to his qualification time.

Nonetheless, he said his intention was to push his training partner to hit the qualifying mark.

Again, he said he was confident that he would clock a good time and ultimately smash his qualifying time in the coming race.

“Last week I ran 45 and today again and I guess I will perform better in the next race. My fitness is always slow to progress and I know I won’t reach my peak early. My intention though is to reach my peak just before the World Championships,” he said.

On the other hand, Nkobolo said he was happy with his performance despite finishing third.

He added that his intension was to gauge his fitness and see how far he could go this season.

Furthermore, he said he was also confident that he would improve his time and ultimately qualify for the World Championships in the coming races.

Meanwhile, BAA president, Moses Bantsi said this year would be a busy one for the association.

He indicated that Botswana would compete at the World Relay in Bahamas in April where the top eight teams would qualify for the World Championships.

Bantsi said he was confident that the women’s relay team would also qualify for the competition.

“IAAF has also introduced mixed relay whereby two women and two men will be part of one team. However we have entered the 4x400M in the mixed category,” he said.

As a result, he said the association had organised more races to give athletes time and opportunity to qualify for the coming major events. ENDS