BAA explains men only marathon team

The Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) has said it was forced to send only the men's team to the annual Birmingham Half Marathon in the United Kingdom due to financial constraints and shortage of women runners. BAA spokesperson, Glody Dube said besides the shortage of funds, the association failed to get enough women to make a team.

A team is supposed to have three athletes and two reserves. Dube said that although they could get three runners, they had a problem in getting the reserves. "We feared sending just three athletes, because we wondered what was going to happen if one athlete fails to make it due to unforeseen circumstances," he explained.