Athletes target late Olympics berths :: Mmegi Online

Local athletes will target punching late tickets to the Olympic Games when the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) hosts a three-day Debswana National Championships, which starts today.

The BAA has set aside P26, 700 as prize money to inspire athletes to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The National Championships run from today until Sunday at the National Stadium and a strong local and international line-up will compete. With the July Olympics on the horizon, BAA hopes more athletes will qualify.

The BAA vice president-technical, Oabona Theetso, said the prize money will apply in three categories; senior, junior, and youth, with athletes placed between positions one and eight benefiting. “The objective of this competition is that they serve as qualifiers to many competitions including the Olympics, Africa Championships and World Junior Championships. So anyone who qualifies for any of these competitions will get P5, 000,” Theetso said. To further motivate local athletes to pull off qualifying times over the weekend, Theetso said they have international athletes to ensure stiff competition. “We have invited South Africa and Namibia to the championship particularly those who are coached by Samuel Sepeng who include 800m runner, Ketlhobogile Hanguira and Tshepiso Masalela who both qualified for the Olympics,” he said.