Athletics redefines sport landscape

Rising star: Tebogo showed the world his undoubted qualities
Rising star: Tebogo showed the world his undoubted qualities

As Botswana celebrates 55 years of Independence this week, there is a reason for sport, particularly athletics, to be optimistic. The addition of a second Olympic Games medal in August emphasised the positive trajectory local sport has made in recent years.

The last decade or so has been particularly rewarding, with Botswana having a first ever world champion and winning its inaugural medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Amantle Montsho was crowned 400m world champion in Daegu, South Korea in 2011, while a year later Nijel Amos became the first local athlete to win a medal at the Olympics when he finished second in 800m. Botswana was forced to wait for 10 years before adding on to the Olympics medal tally. It came during the last day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games when the 4x400m team came close to bagging a silver medal but had to settle for bronze. In between, there has been a medal harvest at the Commonwealth Games and the Diamond League, firmly placing athletics as the undisputed leading code. Athletics continues to project a bright future after the Under-20 side took the world by storm at the World Junior Championships in Kenya last month.

Tebogo Letsile is one of the brightest prospects in world athletics after he won gold in the 100m and bronze in the 200m. Anthony Pesela is also another who has the potential to be a world-beater at the senior level after winning a gold medal in the 400m. The same cannot be said about the country’s most popular sport, football. The game has stuttered after a brief shining moment which saw the Zebras qualify for their first, and thus far, only Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2012.

Editor's Comment
Congratulations Anicia Gaothuse!

The contest had 10 beautiful young girls as finalists and unfortunately only one could wear the crown.The judges picked Anicia Gaothuse. To all those who feel their contestant should have won ahead of Anicia for whatever reason, hardly; the judges found Anicia to be the best among the best, so desist from disrespecting our newly crowned queen on social media or anywhere else, for that matter! Each of the 10 beautiful young women had supporters...

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