23 Mar 2023

An acid test awaits the local organising committee as it stages the road to FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix continental tour on Saturday.

Botswana will host the grand prix on April 29, so the Saturday meet will be used as a dry-run to gauge readiness for the main event. The event spokesperson, Calistus Kolantsho, said in an interview that tomorrow’s meet would attract athletes from Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“We will be using the event to check our readiness. It is a yard stick for the main event, we will be looking at all areas,” he said.

Kolantsho said he was cognisant of the fact that a lot of people were only waiting for the main event, adding that the dry-run would enable them to judge if the spectators were comfortable with buying tickets at the venue or at the provided outlets.

He said they would also assess security, to guide them as to how much security they would need on April 29, and on which areas they should concentrate on.

“When you are dealing with international athletes, security is always a priority and we are not going to compromise in that area,” he said.

Furthermore, he said the meet officials would also be under microscope, adding that World Athletics was expected to send an official from Mauritius to assist during the main event.

According to Kolantsho, the track and field competition would also help them to project if local athletes would be in a position to drop good times during the main event.

He said tomorrow’s event would also serve as a qualifier to compete at the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix, adding that the intention was to give local athletes chance to compete in front of the world.

He thanked the Zambian team for being supportive since the meet inception.

“To be honest, the Zambians always give our athletes competition, therefore we are very confident that they would be in a good position to gauge themselves whether they are ready for April 29 or not,” he said.

The men’s events on Saturday are 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 metres as well as 400 metres hurdles, long and high jump, shot put and 4 x100 metres.

The women’s events are 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, long jump, shot put and 4 x100 metres. ENDS