Kgosietsile calls for protection of athletes against doping
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday March 15, 2016 13:56
He said doping in sport has taken a new turn and that there was need to arrest the trend.
Kgosietsile said talent and not substance should make an athlete win. He said it has taken many years for Botswana to produce athletes who are regarded among the best in the world and everything should be put in place to protect them. He said sport could also be used to market the country even better than tourism.
“Athletes should not win by cheating and it is up to you as medical practitioners to assist in making sure that they remain clean and they stay away from banned substances. You should put into practice the skills you will be getting out of this course,” said Kgosietsile.
Medical practitioners working closely with athletes and national federations are attending the course. The week-long course is meant to empower the medical practitioners with the necessary skills and knowledge.
Meanwhile BNOC chief executive officer, Tuelo Serufho said the inaugural course was made possible through funding from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He said athletes could only reach their potential if competent people surround them. Serufho said the initiative is in line with BNOC’s high performance development plan (2015/2020) which is to facilitate the development of elite sports.
The objective of the course is to improve the level of services rendered to athletes, as most professionals engaged by national federations have generic medical background in their fields with little emphasis on medical applications in sports.
Dr Lesedinyana Odiseng, who is a consultant in occupational medicine and specialist sport physician, facilitates the course. Odiseng is the chairperson of Botswana Football Association medical committee. South African sports medicine experts are part of the course.
Other facilitators include Dr George Mokone and Professor Leapetswe Malete from the University of Botswana who will be focusing on sport psychology in relation to rehabilitation of injuries.