17 May 2021

The National Athletics Championships, which were held over the weekend at the National Stadium were a success.

Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) vice president, Oabona Theetso said Isaac Makwala managed to qualify for the Olympics in 200 and 400 metres, Thabang Monaiwa qualified for 100 metres while long jumpers Kendy Theetso and Thabang Chibane qualified for the Africa senior championships.

He said 400 metres runner, Anthony Pasela managed to clock his Personal Best (PB).

Track and field commentator, Omogolo Ramoroba commended BAA for hosting a successful event under COVID-19  protocols.

The event, he said, managed to produce some qualifying times for various international events.Chibane jumped 7.98m to qualify for the Africa Senior Championships while Pasela ran 46.10 in 400 metres and 21.04 in 200 metres. Jayson Mandoze clocked 21.32 in 200 metres to qualify for the 2020 World Athletics U-20 Championships

“But the golden moment of the event was when Makwala qualified for Tokyo 2020 in both 200m and 400m. This shows how committed our athletes are with or without the pandemic, and with or without competitions they say we are going to make it,” he said.

Track and field analyst, Aobakwe Showa concurred with Ramoroba that the championships were a success looking at the performance of individual athletes.

“Makwala qualifying for Tokyo Olympics is no doubt the highlight of the  championship, but for me, I was impressed by the progress of a few individuals, especially the 400m relay athletes,” he said.

He said Bayapo Ndori, Pasela, Thomphang Basele and Thuto Masasa were some of the athletes who put some impressive performances and managed to clock new PBs.

He said Ndori clocked his new PB of 45.52s which is a boost for the 4x400m relay team while Leungo Scotch and Zibane Ngozi also soared to seasonal bests dipping under 46s.

He said despite all the positives, the relay might have been dealt a major blow by injuries to Nzamani and Masilo who failed to finish their races.

Showa was also of the view that the championships came too soon for the athletes who recently arrived from Poland, adding that there was always a likelihood of injuries as a result of fatigue.

“I personally believe the body recovery or regeneration was not enough, hence chances of injuries was highly likely,” he said.

Talking about the juniors, he said he was impressed by Pasela who despite running four rounds in both 200m and 400m, smashed his PBs for both events.

He said 46.10s was an impressive time, adding that he was confident that he and Letsile Tebogo, who had long qualified, would be medal prospects at the World Juniors in Kenya.

“The future looks bright for junior athletes in short sprints and I am particularly impressed by Jwaneng Athletics Club, who had the bulk of junior athletes recording good times,” he said.

He, however, said more work needed to be done as many of the promising athletes were disqualified for false starts.ENDS