International athletes to spice Sports View meet
Calistus Kolantsho | Thursday May 21, 2015 12:12
The event publicity secretary, Holiday Matibini told Mmegi Sport yesterday that athletes from Namibia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia have confirmed their participation.
The Zimbabwean contingent was expected to arrive last night. Namibia’s 800 metres champion, Daniel Nghipandulwa will be joined by 10 of his fellow countrymen and women for the weekend competition.
Matibini said Nigel Amos, who is based at the High Performance Centre in South Africa, and Isaac Makwala would also compete in the race.
Matibini explained that Amos has been struggling with an injury that he picked in training, but he has since resumed full training.
Makwala is coming into the race after competing in the IAAF Diamond League-Shanghai Grand Prix over the weekend.
Matibini said the competition served as a launching pad for young runners such as Baboloki Thebe and Karabo Sibanda as they prepared for the Africa Youth Games last year.
He said over the years there has been new talent discovered during the competition. He gave an example of Gaone Maotoanou who came in second behind Amos in the 800m finals last year.
“Since its inception, Sport View International Meet has been used by runners to improve their times. We have seen much improvement in the last event we held,” he said.
The event will be used as a qualifier for the upcoming international events such as Southern Region Senior Championships, All Africa Games and World Championships.
Matibini said they have received a sponsorship windfall of P30, 000 from Khayalitlhe guesthouse.
He said athletics is one of the sporting codes that are doing well in the country, having brought many medals from international competitions.
He stated that development of runners should be a continuous process, adding that there are many talented youngsters across the country.