Relay team vow to defend title
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday March 16, 2024 06:00
The athletics team left for Ghana yesterday (Thursday) with the competition scheduled to start on Monday. Speaking to Mmegi Sport, senior athlete, Leungo Scotch, who will be making his second appearance at the games, said the team is ready and they have already set a plan in motion.
During the 2019 edition, Scotch won a gold medal in the men’s 400m and he was part of the men’s 4x400m relay team that finished as champions.
“When we talk during training, we advise each other that there should be no pressure because we still have a lot of work to do. Other big games are coming.
The African Games platform is just to gauge our bodies ahead of the World Relays and Paris 2024 Olympics,” he said.
Other relay team members are Collen Kebinatshipi, Bayapo Ndori, Omphile Seribe, Boitumelo Masilo and Ernest Kumevu in what is a strong line-up. Team coach, Thatayaone Lefatshe said his charges are ready for the competition as they have been training hard. Most of the team members are sprinters, but there is a high jumper, Tshwanelo Aobobe, two hurdlers, Victor Ntweng and Kemorena Tisang as well as two middle-distance runners, Oratile Nowe and Tumo Nkape.
“We are ready and we expect the men’s 4x400m relay team to win a gold medal. We expect the mixed 4x400m relay team to reach the final and once in the final, we stand a podium finish chance. The women who will be running the mixed relay would have run individual races the previous day. Fortunately, the men (Ndori, Kebinatshipi, and Scotch) who are the fastest in the team will not be running individual races. That means they will be able to pick the team,” he said. Lefatshe said the male athletes have registered quick times recently during competitions in South Africa, which means they are in good shape. He said the plan is to use the African Games to qualify for the World Relays in the Bahamas in May as the team has the best 4x400m runners in the country at the moment. The World Athletics Relays will be held at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau from May 4 to 5. "The men are just focusing on the relay. They will be fit when they compete. When we are in the world's top eight, we are safe. Of course, there will be some changes in the team once it qualifies.
The team members slot themselves into the team by running faster times. We have new athletes coming up like Kumevu. He is the youngest and has already qualified for the World Junior Championships. He has a personal best (PB) of 46.11," he said. Other athletes who are likely to push for a spot in the team include Anthony Pesela, Baboloki Thebe and Zibane Ngozi amongst others. At the time of going to print, the Botswana team at the African Games had accumulated four bronze medals from swimming and karate. Adrian Robinson bagged two bronze medals, finishing third in the men’s 50m breaststroke with 28.28 and 100m breaststroke in a time of 1:03:03. Karate women won two bronze medals in kata and kumite. The men’s beach volleyball team who were gold medal prospects, lost in the semi-finals.