‘Zero medals at Commonwealth Games not a surprise’
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday August 14, 2026 10:34
At the previous Commonwealth Games, Botswana won two medals, whilst its biggest haul came at the 2018 Gold Coast Games, where the country collected five medals. Botswana’s young ambassador to the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, Mothusi Ramaabya, told MmegiSport that for the longest time, it had been common knowledge that the Commonwealth Games were coming, but the lack of preparation was always going to affect the performance of local athletes.
He said, judging from Botswana’s performance at the 2025 Africa Youth Games, the country has moved from being competitive to being more participative at the games, as if it were merely a tick-box exercise.
“Our developmental structures are very weak. The stars that we have had in the last decade are a result of School Sport, which unearthed rare talent for us,” Ramaabya explained.
“The absence of such means there is less talent identification and limited competition time for our athletes to gain more confidence. Going to the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, which will take place from October 31 to November 13, we are most likely going to have the same performance as that of the Commonwealth Games.”
He observed that the absence of School Sport would be deeply felt by the nation in this decade, as limited talent would be exposed once the current stars go into retirement.
Ramaabya said some of Botswana’s elite athletics stars were not part of the Glasgow team, which was not a surprise, given that Isaac Makwala also pulled out of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
He noted that elite athletes from other countries also did not attend the Commonwealth Games, with the likes of Akani Simbine choosing not to participate in the individual races, citing the need to give younger athletes a platform.
“The question now, maybe, is: are the Commonwealth Games still an important event on the calendar? Do we incentivise our athletes enough for the Commonwealth Games in the same manner that we do for the Olympic Games? Why are the Commonwealth Games not attracting enough top-tier athletes?” he wondered.
Ramaabya said the BNOC elected a new board in 2025, with some members having served on the board for some time, including Sitale.
He argued that, with such vast experience, they could have seen the below-par performance coming and put measures in place to attract top local stars to compete at the Commonwealth Games.
Ramaabya added that there is a lot of work that needs to be done going forward.
“Youth Olympic Games are next, then the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2027 and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Our recent performance as a country on the global stage does not allow us to send athletes to the games merely for purposes of exposure and gaining experience. “We need to maintain our competitive nature and continue to rise as a powerhouse,” he said.
Ramaabya added athletes put in a lot of effort and time to achieve personal bests, and there was a need to support and nurture them better as a nation, because that is an area where sports leadership is currently failing.
He said holding a leadership role in sport should not just be about attending the games with athletes; the focus should be on talent development, growth and retaining talent. He said it should be about service to the nation and creating maximum impact.
“We should be celebrating key milestones of sport development, athletes’ welfare and a lot of other issues that show progress, but we have started to regress,” Ramaabya advised.