12 Jun 2017

As part of the 2017 World Championships, Botswana athletes continue to compete in different meets.

Lydia Jele, Onkabetse Nkobolo and Boitumelo Masilo competed at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Hengelo, Netherlands on June 11.

Nkobolo who was relaxed throughout the race finished on position two with 45.71, behind Luka Janežic of Slovakia who clocked 45.43.     

Jele, who competed at the Oslo Diamond League meeting on June 8 and finished sixth with 51.53, settled for position four in the women’s 400 metres with a time of 52.09 in Netherlands on June 11.

Masilo who is yet to qualify for the World Championships looked rusty in the men’s 800 metres and finished on position 10 with 1:46.84.

Despite the fact that the World Championships are only left with a month, the question is will  local athletes do well, given the fact that some of them are not clocking impressive times.

Talking about the race, athletics analyst, Billy Tambula said Jele’ s hamstring injury now looks serious, adding that as it is she needs to rest for the championship and give the hamstring time to recover.

“Otherwise her performance in Oslo and Hengelo was something to write home about, looking at her injury condition,” he said.

He said Jele planned for her race well, but was very cautious as she knew she was running with an injury.

“You could see that she tried to attack in the back straight, but I think she felt she couldn’t make it towards the 300 metres mark that’s why she decided to take it easy. It’s very important that all this athletes are very cautious during these races, because the whole idea is not to lose anyone going to the World Champs,” he said.

As for Masilo, he said the first lap was too fast for him, as he was just recovering from an injury.

He said had they crossed  the 400 metres mark a second or two slower with his speed he could have hit the London  qualifying mark.

“The fact  that he managed to lower his time so much I think the qualifying mark is so close. It is in his range now,” he said

Furthermore, he said there was no doubt that Nkobolo was in a very good shape, adding that since he qualified for the World Championship his confidence was very promising.

According to Tambula, Nkobolo was now left with improving his Personal Best, given that he was able to maintain his speed through the entire lap adding that he had observed that his speed endurance was his strength. ENDS