Ngwigwa upbeat ahead of Delhi Games

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Wednesday September 22, 2010 00:00

 

Ngwigwa wants to improve his performance after he reached the finals in the 400m race at the Africa Senior Championships held in Kenya last July.

The 200m and 400m runner, who will link up with the rest of the team on Monday, vows that he will excel at the Games.'My target is to make it to the finals and then I will give it my best shot when I get there. We will see where that will take me,' he told Mmegi Sport. He has had a great season in the collegiate competitions, setting a number of personal bests in both the 200m and 400m races. In fact, he singles out the just-ended collegiate season as his best ever since moving to the US in 2006.

'I feel pretty good - my fitness levels are superb and the international exposure I've gained will help. This is my second time to take part in the Commonwealth Games; so it is not anything new to me,' he said.

Ngwigwa said that he has been training consistently after the Africa Senior Championships.

He managed to reach the finals of the 400m during the Nairobi championships and looks forward to doing better at the Commonwealth Games.

'I'm ready for the Commonwealth Games after a long collegiate season. I haven't stopped training. I only took a two-week break after the African Championships and I should be able to do better than I did in Kenya.'

Ngwigwa is under the tutelage of American coach, Kevin Brown and sings praises of his mentor. He is also part of the men's 4x400m relay team alongside Gakololwang Mashetu, Isaac Makwala, Zachariah Kamberuka and Tiroyaone Masake. Team manager Paphane Botlhale has much faith in the team. 'It's a perfect relay team because Kamberuka is back from injury and Mashetu, who missed the Africa Championships as he was writing exams, is also part of the team,' he said.Ngwigwa also believes the team has what it takes to excel at the New Delhi games.

'They are great guys and we have previously run together; so I know with them we can go out there and do something special for Botswana.'

Meanwhile, a 12-member athletics team left for Pretoria, South Africa, on Monday. They are presently camped at the High Performance Centre and will leave for New Delhi on Monday.