The war has raged on since and the guns are still not silent. On Thursday April 21, the media was awash with news that former Botswana President, Ian Khama and three other high profile figures were facing charges related to illegal possession of guns.
On Thursday June 2, Botswana woke up to the disappointing news that a gun had cost their new athletics icon, Letsile Tebogo, a world record. The Botswana Athletics Association’s (BAA) laissez faire attitude denied Tebogo his moment of glory after the association failed to carry out a zero gun test. After the World Athletics indicated last week that it could not ratify Tebogo’s 100m junior world record of 9.96, the BAA sought refuge in a blame-taking statement. They had not bothered to do what is called a zero gun test in athletics. It might sound technical but it’s apparently a routine procedure; more like doing a sound check before a gig. According to World Athletics, a zero gun test is used to check that the automatic timing system starts and captures properly. The zero gun test is required for capturing official records.
