Makwala livid after BNSC snub
Calistus Kolantsho | Wednesday May 6, 2015 18:00
After having a stellar 2014, many expected Makwala to at least make the shortlist, but has been unfairly overlooked.
Writing on his Facebook page, the athlete said he was hurt by the decision after what he had done for the country, particularly in the last year.
He threatened that if he was aware of the list of the nominees before the World relays in Bahamas, he could have pulled out.
“Fa nne ke bone that list ya nominees before the world relays, ne ke sa ye go itshwenya ke ngakalala ke re di direla Botswana waitse. (If I had seen the (BNSC awards) nominees before the world relays, I would not have worked hard saying I am representing my country),” Makwala wrote.
Makwala was in action over the weekend at the IAAF/BTC World Relays in Bahamas, where he helped the Botswana 4 x 400m-relay team qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Makwala last year won both the 100m and 200m at nationals, won gold at the African championships in 400m and silver at the same event.
He went on to set new national records in 100m, 200m and 400m. He also set a 400m record at the African championships.
Makwala was instrumental in helping the 4x400m relay team win gold at the African Championships. He also took part in the Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) official, Gable Garenamotse told Mmegi Sport that he was tasked to submit the names to BNSC.
He said he submitted the names of both Nijel Amos and Makwala. He explained that he was not sure if the selection committee dropped Makwala’s name or not. “I am not aware of the number of names each code is allowed to submit per category. Makwala is at par with Nigel Amos.
“The only difference is that Amos won a gold medal at Commonwealth Games,” he said. Garenamotse mentioned that the same thing happened with Karabo Sibanda who was left out and Baboloki Thebe was nominated.
However, according to BNSC awards rules, a code can only make one submission per category.