Panic over Olympic funds delay
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday December 2, 2023 10:24
The matter is expected to take centre stage at the BNOC Ordinary General Meeting in Gaborone tomorrow. During the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Botswana sent a team of 13 athletes from athletics, boxing, weightlifting, and swimming. The team brought a bronze medal won by the men’s 4x400m relay team. The Botswana Boxing Association secretary-general, Taolo Tlouetsile said they have not started preparations for the Olympics due to lack of funding. “The challenge is that the BNOC or the National Sport Commission are silent on the matter. So we cannot make any move without knowing which direction we are going. However, we intended to try our luck at both qualification tournaments,” Tlouetsile said.
Some of the Olympic qualifiers lined up for boxing are the first World qualification tournament set for February in Busto Arsizio, Italy, and the second World qualification tournament is scheduled for May in Bangkok, Thailand. Botswana attended the continental Olympic qualifiers that were held in Dakar, Senegal where they lost. The Botswana Taekwondo Federation public relations officer, Tumelo Mapila said Karabo Zoe is attempting to qualify for the Olympics. He said Taekwondo was sponsored by BNOC to attend the African Championships in the first week of November. “We need to attend such championships to gain points that would place us in a better position for the qualifiers seeding. We are hoping to get confirmation to attend the qualifiers in February 2024, but right now we need to be in training camps,” Mapila said.
He said nothing has been said about funding for the preparations and it makes it difficult for them to plan. Mapila said athletes should be sent outside the country for exposure. The Botswana Athletics Association vice president-administration, Oabona Theetso said they are also waiting for funding from the BNOC. Despite that, athletes who have already qualified for Paris 2024 have started preparations. Theetso said the intention is to see more athletes qualify for the sport's biggest competition. Letsile Tebogo, Leungo Scotch, Bayapo Ndori, Collen Kebinatshipi, and Tshepiso Masalela are the athletes who have qualified for the Olympics. The athletes receive monthly allowances from the government to assist them during the preparations. The BNOC strategy and business development manager, Baboni Kupe told MmegiSport that they have been working together with a key stakeholder, the BNSC, on a long-term financial proposal ahead of the Paris 2024 Games and inclusive of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, for submission to the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture. “In addition to this, the BNOC has supported various sporting codes to attend qualification competitions throughout this year,” Kupe said.