Athletics world comes to Gaborone
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday March 25, 2023 06:00
Amantle Montsho’s crowning moment as a world champion in 2011 took place 12,658km away from the Botswana capital, Gaborone. Montsho was crowned champion in Daegu, South Korea during the World Championships, marking a first for the country.
The following year saw Nijel Amos create history as he won the country’s first Olympic Games medal in London, 12,577km from Gaborone.
Isaac Makwala won his first Commonwealth Games medal 11,891km away on the Gold Coast in Australia.
Similarly, when rising Letsile Tebogo broke the Under-20 record, it was in faraway Cali, Columbia, which is estimated to be 11,419km from Gaborone.
Local athletic fans have had to do with staying glued to the television as they joined global audiences watching their favourite stars.
Largely, quality World Athletics (WA) competitions have been held outside the continent, with Kenya hosting the World Junior Championships last year on the rare occasion the stars fly to Africa.
Thanks to the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix, the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport will be a hive of activity in the build-up to the competition on April 29, with arrivals replacing the usual departures.
Shelly-Ann Frayser-Pryce is the most prominent name of the stars expected to touch down at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. Frayser-Pryce, who is regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, will add gloss to the event with the announcement that she will take part, already creating a buzz. She is a 13-time World Championships medallist in a glittering collection and her presence at the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix is expected to be one of the highlights.
Another star coming for the show is Olympic and World 400m champion, Kirani James from the Grenada. He has enjoyed some battles with local icon, Makwala in recent years although James has always had an edge.
African champion, Ferdinand Omanyala will also be part of the event as he looks to ignite some rivalry with local star, Tebogo.
Tebogo is a star attraction on his own after blazing the trail last year to break the junior 100m champion.
In front of the home crowd, Tebogo would be the favourite in the 100m as Botswana’s emergence as an athletics force is finally rewarded with the Golden Grand Prix.