Botswana fired up for COSSASA athletics
Chakalisa Dube | Friday May 4, 2018 14:31
The competition starts on Monday and ends Thursday at the Francistown Sports Complex. The 200 athletes in the Botswana team have been in camp for the last two weeks. The COSSASA athletics will feature Under-13, -15 and -17 athletes in various track and field events.
The athletes were selected during the Botswana Primary School Sports Association (BOPSSA) and the Botswana Integrated Sports Association (BISA) national finals held at the Francistown Sports Complex last month.
“This week we reduced the intensity of the training to avoid exposing athletes to injury risks. We have also been working on conditioning the athletes because the games are nearer. All members in the team have been responding positively to the training and I am confident that they will fare well at the games,” Keabetswe said yesterday.
“This week, we also had trial competitions amongst members of the team and majority of them did very well. We also selected those who we believe should start at the competitions.”
Keabetswe said that a few members in the team have picked minor injuries. He, however, noted that the medical team is working around the clock to ensure that the injured athletes are ready for the games. “They will certainly be fit to start at the competitions,” he said.
At the time of going to press, Keabetswe said management had not set a medal target for the team.
“What I can tell you is that we have identified a notable number of athletes who we believe can bring us medals at the games,” he said.
Meanwhile, countries that will take part at the games are scheduled to start arriving at varying times today. Countries that have confirmed their participation are Zimbabwe, Angola, Swaziland, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Zambia.
Last year only Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe participated in Zimbabwe.