29 Mar 2017

Botswana 400 metres athletes continued with their dominance in the track at the SASOL North-West University PUKKE international meeting at Sasolburg on Tuesday afternoon.
The Final 6 of 6 Men Senior 400m fielded four Batswana athletes fielded in the same event and it was Karabo Sibanda who managed to hit the finish line first with a time of 45.07, followed by his training partner Baboloki Thebe who clocked 45.18.
On position three was veteran Isaac Makwala who is yet to secure a World Championship berth, he clocked 45.85 but the 2017 IAAF London, World Championships 400 metre entry standard is 45.50.
Position four went to Onkabetse Nkobolo with 45.86.
Botswana continued to rule the 400 metres when Moroko Galefele finished on position one with 53.70 and Oarabile Babolai clocked 55.86 to finish on position three.
In the 300 metres final women senior, Amantle used the race to sharpen her speed and she finished on position two with 37.44, while position one went to South Africa's 800 metres specialist Caster Semenya with 37.22.
However, athletics analyst, Billy Tambula said in an interview that Sibanda’s good performance since the start of the season was an indication that he was most likely to have a good season like last year.
 “When he start improving and getting best times his graph always goes up. Remember last year he qualified for Rio Olympics with a Personal Best of  45.4 then went to better it at the U20 championships, then another PB at the Olympic  semis and then the finals,” he said.
Tambula said looking at his performance graph, there was no doubt he would continue to improve his times every competition.
Furthermore, he said Sibanda managed to qualify for the World Championship in his first official race of the year, after he clocked a time of 45:26 with was a Season Best (SB), adding that athletes went to compete at the ASA Speed Series 3 at Mc Arthur Stadium Potchefstroom where he finished first in 45.08.
“Having said that, I think this season he has shown the world what to expect, now he should take it easy, because if he can reach his peak early it might pose a danger for him moving forward remember we have Bahamas World Relay, World Championships and Diamond League,” he said. ENDS