Montsho made history by securing Botswana's first gold medal

BOITUMELO KHUTSAFALO
Staff Writer | Wednesday December 22, 2010 00:00

 

The games were marred by controversies in the build-up, which led to some top athletes in the world withdrawing from the games for safety reasons.

Montsho, like most Batswana, was unfazed by the reports of insecurity and focused at the job in hand. It was the proudest moment in Botswana's sporting history. The country's national anthem was sung at the Commonwealth Games for the first time in history as the blue, black and white flag was hoisted. For that moment, the whole world was listening and watching as Montsho gleamed with a smile and glowed with happiness written all over her face.

The whole nation shared in her happiness because for as long as this country has taken part in the games, such success had not been achieved before. Botswana registered its first medal at the games in 1994 when France Mabiletsa won a bronze medal in Victoria, Canada.

The country came even closer when Master Luza and Gable Garenamotse won silver medals in Manchester, United Kingdom (UK), in 2002. Garenamotse was back again with a silver medal from the 2006 Melbourne Olympic Games in Australia. When the names of the great achievers of the Commonwealth Games are called, Montsho will be one of them, and by extension, Botswana. She won her race convincingly as she had opened a gap of almost 10m.

It was up to those lagging behind to decide who takes the second and third spots. Botswana Athletics Association (BBA) chiefs have always said, with resources they can be the nation's hope in the sporting arena and it is without doubt that Montsho's achievement is due to the hard work of the BBA. They took time cultivating Montsho's talent with limited resources.

Montsho did not only win gold medal but also set a new Games' record with a time of 50.10 seconds, beating the previous record of 50.17 seconds set by Jamaica's Alexandra Anjela Richards in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 12 years ago.

The world record is 47.60 seconds. It was not only an emotional victory for Montsho but for the country as well. Before the start of the race, the nation waited anxiously to see whether Montsho could maintain her impressive performance in the heats. Montsho has always comfortably qualified for the finals of international competitions only to falter at the crucial hurdle.

It was against this backdrop that Batswana could only afford to sit on the edge of their seats to see whether Montsho would this time around beat the odds.

Many will remember her heroics at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in China where she comfortably qualified for finals of the 400m only to finish last when everyone was expecting the country's first medal at the Olympics. She did concede later that she was not herself in the finals because of nervousness. But her victory at the Delhi Commonwealth Games could be a turning point and a clear indication that Montsho has made incredible progress as an athlete