Athletes miss Commonwealth Games qualifying mark

CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent | Wednesday July 14, 2010 00:00

 

Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) technical officer, Bobby Gaseitsiwe said the failure to clock the required time was a challenge to the athletes to work harder. He said the athletes have missed an opportunity to participate in an international event such as the Commonwealth Games to get exposure. Gaseitsiwe was speaking after the Mascom 2010 Phikwe marathon on Saturday.

The winner, Raobine Ramoseka from Gaborone completed the 42.2-kilometre race in 2:20:52 hours ahead of Bashingili Ndabile of Sportview who crossed the line after 2:21:23 hours. Elijah Mutandiro from Zimbabwe was third. Samukeliso Moyo from Zimbabwe won the women section in a time of 2:50:27 hours. Two South-Africans, Mpho Mabuza and Pauline Ngieya were second and third respectively.

Winners in both sections pocketed P25,000 with the first and second runners-up walking away with P10,000 and P5,000 respectively. The winner in the men's category, Ramoseka, said the course was flat and made running easy. The women's champion, Moyo, said the course was flat and that the competition was tough. It was Moyo's second major victory in three months after she won the inaugural Gaborone City Marathon. International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) measurer, Norrie Williamson, suggested that there should be more events in Botswana to keep athletes fit. 'There are only two major racing events at the moment. That is not enough and runners in other countries get more training because they are engaged most of the time,' he said. He noted that competition between runners is not enough and they did not run to their full potential. He said that with stiff competition, runners will clock better times.