BAA dismiss fatigue fears
Calistus Kolantsho | Wednesday June 14, 2017 16:51
The concerns were fueled by the athletes’ busy calendar, with some team members involved in the ongoing IAAF Diamond League in Europe. BAA spokesperson, Ipolokeng Ramatshaba told Mmegi Sport that it was important for the athletes to be active all the time, hence their participation in the Diamond League.
He said there is no need for the public to worry about athletes tiring before or during the World Championships. “We consider it as part of training ahead of the championships.
It is the responsibility of the coaches and managers to come up with plans that can work for the team. We should not worry about what happened during the Rio 2016 Olympics Games when speculations were rife that some athletes were tired,” he said.
Ramatshaba said the rest of the team is expected to travel to Italy where they will camp before the World Championships. He said some athletes such as Baboloki Thebe left on Monday for Europe to compete in the Diamond League.
Karabo Sibanda has finally left for Italy to seek medical attention. Nijel Amos, Lydia Jele and Onkabetse Nkobolo are already in Europe. The rest of the team that includes Amantle Montsho and Christina Botlogetswe is expected to travel next week.
Ramatshaba said the Botswana National Olympic Committee and Botswana National Sport Commission are busy making travel arrangements. He said the World Championships preparations are at peak and there is no turning back.
Meanwhile, the Botswana team that competed at the just ended Southern Africa Regional Championships brought home 12 gold medals; four silver and four bronze. Ramatshaba said if they had not cut the team, they could have made a clean sweep of medals.
Botswana finished first followed by South Africa with nine gold medals, 10 silver and five bronze while Mozambique bagged two gold, two silver and three bronze in third. In 10th and last place was Mauritius with one gold and two silver medals.
Hosts Zimbabwe finished a disappointing seventh.