Botswana finishes third in COSSASA tourney
Koketso Kgoboge | Friday May 27, 2016 09:41
The two combined teams from the Botswana Integrated Sport Association (BISA) and Botswana Primary School (BOPPSA) returned home with 36 medals.
The team won nine gold medals, 13 silver and 14 bronze medals.
Individually, BISA won seven gold medals, eleven silver and 10 bronze, while BOPPSA contributed two gold, two silver and four bronze medals.
Aobakwe Nkobela and Thomphang Basele were the pride of the team as the star athletes returned home with individual accolades.
Nkobela broke the 1.95 metres COSSASA high jump record he set at the 2014 COSSASA Games held in Zimbabwe.
The Mogoditshane Senior School student continued his dominance in the COSSASA games as he set a new record of 2.03 metres that earned him Best Male Athlete award. In the track events, 16-year-old Moeti Junior Secondary School’s Basele won two gold medals. She got her first in the 400 metres and another in the medley relay. Her supremacy on the track won her the best senior athlete award at the competition.
BISA’s marketing and communications manager, Letsweletse Jonas said they are pleased with the overall performance of the team.
“Looking at the fact that we did not take part in the 2015 games held in Lesotho, we are impressed with the performance.
“We have managed to bring silverware and individual awards and we believe we could have done better had we competed in Lesotho last year.” He said their target was to beat the host nation.
“Our target was to beat Namibia, but Zimbabwe had a different story. We ended up fighting against Namibia in the field events and fighting Zimbabwe in the track events and Zimbabwe gave us a torrid time.
Lesotho also held their own in the long races but there is room for improvement next time,” he added.
Zimbabwe finished first followed by Namibia while Botswana was third and Lesotho fourth. Angola took the last spot.