Botswana won 141 medals in the past year
Staff Writer | Wednesday March 16, 2016 14:30
“Botswana’s performance in sport is improving each year with Batswana athletes in various sport codes excelling at international competitions. Since April 2015, Botswana athletes have won 141 medals, consisting of 49 gold, 44 silver and 48 bronze in various competitions,” Olopeng said.
Among notable achievements, in 2015, Isaac Makwala set a new African 400m record in July which placed him among the top five best all time athletes in the category. He is ranked third in the world. Nijel Amos won the 2015 Diamond League and is ranked second in the 800m category. In the youth section, a 400m runner is ranked fourth in the world.
Meanwhile, Olopeng told the Committee of Supplies that Constituency tournaments participation stood at 78,381 during the third cycle of the 2015/2016 financial year.
“These constituency competitions continue to be attractive to the youth and keep them meaningfully engaged, thus taking them away from possible misdemeanour in addition to being a source of income,” he said. However, he expressed concerns over late payments to participants due to late submissions of surety forms by teams. He said his ministry is exploring payments through other avenues such as the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC).