22 Mar 2021

One of Botswana’s finest boxers, Mohammed ‘Otukile’ Rajab, has qualified for Tokyo Olympics billed for July 23 to August  8.

Rajab, who is ranked number three in Africa, automatically secured a place at the prestigious games following the International Organising Committee (IOC) Boxing Task Force’s (BTF) recent decision to restructure the qualifying path for the games.

The new qualification processes were necessitated by the current challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, the new reallocation path was based on international on-field results recorded over the past four years (2017-2021), including, but not limited to the Boxing Task Force (BTF) Olympic Qualification Events.The changes dictated that the best ranking boxer in each continent, who has not yet qualified, would automatically qualify, hence Rajab easily sailed through to book a spot since the top two ranked boxers in Africa had already qualified.

In an interview, the well decorated boxer said he was elated at the announcement and felt that he deserved it because he had worked hard in the past years.  

He, however, stated that he never let the pandemic deter his plans and his focus was always on the ball. Although COVID-19 affected his training, he said he continued training on his own at home, adding that since he got on camp recently, his training had improved tremendously.  

His only concern for now, stemmed from the fact that preparations had been halted for long and athletes had not competed anywhere since the pandemic to check their level of fitness.

However, he mentioned that his team mates had continued to work hard, even though they had not qualified because they understood that ‘this is an individual spot and one has to work on their own in order for them to make it,’ he said.

He promised his fans, well-wishers and the nation at large that he would work extra hard to raise the nation’s flag high.

For his part, Botswana Boxing Association’s Taolo Tlouetsile said the association was happy that the boxer had qualified for the Olympics.

He said so far, the team, including the two boxers that will represent the country at the Olympics being Rajab and Keamogetse Kenosi, has been on camp since January 13.

Kenosi qualified at the African qualifiers at the Dakar International Expo in Senegal in February last year.  

Taolo also stated that for now, the association could not conclusively state whether the training plan would change or not, but the technical committee and coaches would draw a plan.

He nonetheless acknowledged that COVID-19 had affected team preparations, due to travel restrictions and quarantine regulations in other countries.

However, he said the association was hoping to send those who had qualified to international camp,preparatory programme.ENDS