09 Aug 2017

The two Botswana medal hopefuls, Nijel Amos and Baboloki Thebe did not come to the party in the finals after finishing outside the medal bracketat at the on-going IAAF World Championship.

The question that lingers in the minds of some people is whether the absence of Isaac Makwala, who was withdrawn from the competition by the IAAF medical delegate, had an effect on their performance.

Amos, who was favourite in the 800 metres finals, finished in position five with a time of 1:45.83, while Thebe missed a medal by a whisker and finished fourth with at 44.66.

What was evident during the introduction of athletes was frustration on Botswana’s hopefuls as they looked not confident and their bodies summed it all.

Since Makwala and Thebe had been training together and strategised for the final race as to who to tackle the race, the former’s absence on the track might have had a physiological effect on the young boy.

Again, it was Thebe’s first major final at the international stage and one would have thought that sharing the same track was going to push him to the limit.

University of Botswana sport psychologist lecture, Dr Tshepang Tshube explained that the fact that Makwala was barred from competing in the 200m and 400m finals was a major psychological distraction to the entire team.

He said the team leadership had to address the saga at the expense of focusing on performance, adding that individual athletes had to also direct their thoughts to supporting Makwala when they should have been doing mental rehearsals and focusing on their individual events.

He said the saga had lowered the mood in the camp and brought a sense of a major loss, adding that alone had a significant impact on performance. ENDS