19 Jul 2018

After missing the Diamond League meeting circuit since the start of the season, Botswana’s 800m ace runner Nijel Amos and 400m  Baboloki Thebe  are  expected to resurrect in their different meet.

Amos will start July 18 at 31^st Herculis EBS Meet where he will compete in a non-Diamond League race.

On Sunday July 22, he will be in the line up at the Müller Anniversary Diamond League where he is expected to burn the London Stadium to prove his mettle  given that he needs to finish in a very good position to accumulate high points and qualify for the final to be held in Brussels on August 31.

He will be left with Birmingham meeting to cement his place at the finals and for him to qualify, he needs to accumulate points in the two meetings that will put him in top 8 bracket. His   mission is to defend the Diamond Trophy he won last season, making London race a very important one for him. 

However, he is going to face a stiff competition from the likes of  Kenyan’s Wyclife Kinyamal and Emmanuel Korir, from Britain; Elliot Giles, Andrew Osagie, Daniel Rowden and Jake Wightman, Polish Adam Kszczot as well as USA’s Clayton Murphy and Erik Sowinski,

After an injury lay off from the Commonwealth Games he raced a pre-Diamond League in Eugene where he finished second with 1:45.51 after Kenyan’s Emmanuel Korir who stopped the clock at 1:45.16. He then competed at the Gyulai Istvàn Memorial in Hungary where he also finished in position two with 1:44.18.

Thebe on the other hand is expected to redeem himself on July 20 . He has only competed in one Diamond League  in Doha and has been missing in action since.

Thebe will line up with Jamaican Nathon Allen, USA’s Paul Dedewo, Nathan Strother, Qatari Abdalleleh Haroun, Abderrahman Samba, Britons Matthew Hudson-Smith, Rabah Yousif and Grenada Kirani James.

Track and Field analyst, Billy Tambula said it was good a lineup for both athletes given that they were just about to go to the African Championships. 

As for Thebe, Tambula said  he would be against a completely different line up  many of whom have  managed to run a sub 45 already. He said Thebe’s last two races were good, adding that he might also record a sub 45 from the race. ENDS