24 Aug 2021

If there is anyone who can answer the question of what they would do at their zero hour, it would be 400 metre sensation, Zibani Ngozi.

When what he loved most, football, was cut short by an injury, he did not fold arms and wait for an opportunity to knock.  

He knew that with that door closed the other would be opened, but athletics was not never in his mind.

This could be likened to the Biblical story of David known for looking after his father’s livestock and skill for playing harp, no one anticipated that he would at some point be a king.

The 28 year-old Moroka born star ,was part of a 4x400m relay team that recently returned home with a silver medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.  

Born in a family of four children, with an older brother and two younger sisters, Kumbulani Ngozi, the father and (mother) Hlezipi Mamo’s son led an ordinary life of a boy in the village.

He started his education at Moroka Primary School, then went to Ramoja Junior School and completed his Botswana General Certificate in Secondary Education (BGCSE) at Masunga Senior Secondary School.

In a chit chat with BOPA on the return from his first Olympic appearance,  Ngozi indicated that growing up his first love was football, despite performing well in athletics as well as triple and long jump during school competitions.

Given his love for football, he was always in the starting line up until he completed studies at Masunga senior. Upon completion of high school, he knew that he was a footballer and went all out to secure a spot in one of the teams.

In 2015, he became part of Township Rollers development team, in 2016 he joined Mmopane Sporting Club which was in second division.

Still in 2016, he said he went for trials at Gaborone United and suffered an injury, breaking his hand, which then forced him to go back home at Moroka for recovery.

In an effort to make ends meet, he indicated that he then joined his brother in transport business, operating a combi between Masunga and Francistown in 2017.

In that same year, he learnt of constituency competitions scheduled for Masunga, and monetary prizes attached to the competitions, which inspired him to register for 100 and 200m sprints.

Despite knowing that he could win, he had no time for training as he was driving a combi during the day.

However, the big day at Masunga stadium, saw him walking home P1 400 richer after winning both races.

“That is how my journey in athletics started. I had P1 400, which was a lot of money from one event without even training for it,” he added.

Being stung by the athletic bug, he went on to represent his constituency at regional competitions where he also emerged victorious in both races, winning P900 from each.

Having booked himself space at the finals in  Francistown,  Ngozi said he got position three in 100 meters race, winning P700 and went on to scoop position one in 200m race, bagging P1 500.

In 2018 constituency competitions, he indicated that he was also crowned the champion for both 100 and 200m races, adding that from there they went for national competitions in Lobatse, where he was advised by some officials from Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) and sports ministry not to compete in constituency setup.

The competition did not permit those in professional setup to compete in amateur structure.

“Their view was that I have been performing exceptionally well hence the need for me to now take part in BAA and other professional competitions,” he said.

Upon his return home, he said he informed his father of what transpired in Lobatse and he also agreed with the officials’ decision to stop him from competing.

“My father has all along advised me against playing football, citing that there was a possibility of great future for me in athletics,” he said.

In that same year,  Ngozi was invited to out of school camp in Gaborone for three months from October to December.

“During the camp, we were trained by Gable Garenamotse, who was amongst officials who advised me to stop competing at constituency level,” he said.

Zibane said beginning of 2019, he ran his first professional race under Garenamotse who advised him to compete in 400 metres and attained position five.

“I was in the same track with the country’s best,  Baboloki Thebe, Karabo Sibanda as well as Onkabetse Nkobolo,” he added.

He said Garemotse, then introduced him to Mogomotsi Otsetswe who then took over as his coach focusing on 400m.

“Within two weeks with Otsetswe, I took part in other BAA competitions where my time improved from 49.32 seconds of the first race to 47.32 seconds,”  Ngozi said.

His performance kept improving with each race and later in 2019, Otsetswe relocated to his home village and handed him to Kebonyemodisa Mosimanyana as his new coach.

His first race with Mosimanyana was national competitions in Francistown where he finished third in 46.00 seconds.

In mid-2019, he formed part of the national 4x400 meter relay team which went to Bahamas for World Championships qualifiers. They failed to qualify but he ran his personal best of 45.62 seconds in individual races.

2019 was a busy year for him, taking part in several meets such as Manchester, World Africa Games in Morocco, where the clinched a gold, running a time that qualified him for World Championships.

He indicated that he was also part of a team that was to compete at World Relay championship in Yokohama, unfortunately due to financial constraints, the trip failed.

Still in 2019, they took part in World Championships in Doha, where they reached the finals but were disqualified, as one of the team members took the baton outside his lane.

In 2020, he said there were few races beginning of the year and was called for camp in preparations for Olympics, which were halted due to COVID-19 lockdown.

This year he was called for another camp in preparations for Olympics, unfortunately, he was part of those who were asked to go back home since there were no enough funds to keep a big team.

He did not fold his hands, but went knocking to realise his dream of competing in the Olympics.

Learning of  Ngozi ordeal, the owner of Adansonia hotel offered him free accommodation for two weeks.

“I was hungry for success, I trust she saw that in me. I wanted to qualify for the Olympics.  I started training around 10am when the national team was done since we were not allowed to mix due to COVID-19 and the coach was always there to assist me,” he said.

He then joined forces with Rebeilwe Thanyane to raise funds to go to South Africa where they could train and take part in competitions since local sport was suspended.

“It was Rebeilwe’s idea and he even came with his father’s car for our transportation. Bayapo Ndori and Mothusi Pholo joined us and we contributed some money for the trip,” he said.

Mosimanyana helped with arrangements for them to train with South African coach John Vester based at Potchefstroom.
In the two weeks of training, they managed to take part in a number of competitions.

Towards the end of the two weeks, they ran out of money for food and had to return home.

Whilst planning for their return, Botswana Athletics Association official called inviting him to join the national team camp in South Africa.

After the, he went back home and a week later he received a call from Isaac Makwala informing him about upcoming races in Gaborone.

“After the race, I was ranked BAA number seven in 400 meters,” he said.

His last race was in Francistown where he was ranked the race’s second best after Makwala.

“I also booked my ticket to the Olympics through the Francistown competition,” he said. ENDS