Amos: A promising career cut short
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday January 26, 2026 06:00
The then-Minister of Sport, Shaw Kgathi, had already left London as he did not think the team stood a chance of getting a medal. But Nijel Amos not only won a silver medal, but he also set the 800m World Junior Record and National Record with his time of 1:41.73. However, the promising career was cut short by injuries and a doping ban, forcing the Marobela-born star into early retirement.
This week, he took MmegiSport down memory lane as he narrated his mixed journey. Amos said when he reached the Olympics final, he had just become a Junior World Champion two weeks prior. “The plan was for me to go and get experience from the Olympics, which I was going to use in the next Olympics, Rio 2016, where I would have been 21 years old.
“I remember during warm-up, David Rudisha came to me and said he was going for the world record. He warned me to stay away from him. I was left wondering if that was a mental game or not,” he chuckled. Rudisha went on to win a gold medal and set the men's 800m World Record of 1:40.91. The Kenyan became the first and only athlete to break the 1:41 second barrier.
Amos said the threat worked for him as he paced himself well, won a silver medal, and it is a day he will always cherish. Beaming with a smile, Amos said the silver medal changed his life in a way he never imagined.
“I got sponsorship opportunities, I travelled the world. I became the blueprint for Botswana sport; I became an example of what happens to an athlete when there is support. When I look back, I thank God for placing me in that position,” he said.
Amos added that he did not receive anything from the government for the medal, as he only got donations from well-wishers, and the standard support from government.
He said the National Rewards and Incentives Policy was not in place at the time, but was introduced a year after his feat. This has left him feeling that he is owed by the government.
“I am the only Olympic medallist left behind. Why can't they just look back and give me something? I deserve a reward; I did the job. From 2012, things became rough for me due to injuries, and in 2013, I did not feature anywhere. I missed my first World Athletics Championships, which were held in Moscow, Russia,” Amos said. The following year, Amos bounced back, won all his races, becoming the first Motswana to be nominated as World Athlete of the Year and ended the year ranked number eight.
“Unfortunately for me, when I arrived at the Rio 2016 Olympics, I dropped out during the heats. I was dealing with a lot of health issues by then.
“I then decided to move to Oregon, USA. I have three Diamond League trophies (2014, 2015, and 2017) in my cabinet,” he said.
Amos added that as an 18-year-old athlete, running 1:41.73, the next thing was to challenge for the world record. He said that was the main thing that pushed his move to Oregon in 2016.
“Look at my performance from 2017 to 2019,” he said. “I was on the right track to the world record. I told my coach that I was there for the world record and from there, gold in the Tokyo Olympics. By then, I was running 1:44.00, I was struggling to break 1:43.00.”
Amos revealed that in 2019, when he clocked 1:41.00, he knew that at the Olympics, he was going to be in 1:40.00 shape and nobody was going to touch him. Unfortunately, COVID-19 struck.
According to the former athlete, he went to the Tokyo Olympics with the fastest time of 1:42.00.
“Unfortunately, I collided with an American athlete, and everything just shut down,” he said.
Enter Youth United Track and Field League
Meanwhile, Amos, in conjunction with Propellers Sport Academy, has established the Youth United Track and Field League.
“I have been through all athletics development structures, and I have seen the importance of development. With the absence of school sport, we came up with this idea to close the gap,” he explained.
“The league is for government schools, private schools, and out-of-school kids, aged between 12 and 18 years.”
Amos stated the league is a platform for all children to compete against the best in the country. He said registration opens on Monday online, and it is free. The first leg of the competition will be held in Francistown on March 1, followed by the second leg on April 19 in Gaborone. When asked about his coaching job in Iran, Amos said he would be involved with the programme full-time and working with the Islamic Republic of Iran national track and field team virtually.