Botswana sends two to Paralympics
Friday, August 02, 2024 | 510 Views |
National duty: Masuge
The games start on August 28 and run until September 8. The team will go for a pre-games camp before travelling to Paris, France. Edwin Masuge is competing in the men’s T30 400m and Gloria Majaga will be in the T13 100m and 400m. Masuge qualified after last year's World Championships in France while Majaga booked her place in Kobe, Japan during the World Para Championships, where she won a bronze medal in the women’s T13 100m. The team manager, Monty Ratlou, told MmegiSport that preparations for the Paralympics have been going well.
“We had three athletes who had hit the qualification standard for the Paralympic Games that was required by the World Paralympic Association, Masuge, Majaga, and T37 200m and 400m runner, Ronald Rich. Unfortunately, he was not part of the final team. We started working with this team in 2022, where Debswana Mine assisted in the preparations, especially with transportation and access to the National Stadium,” he said. Ratlou said in 2023, the mining giant assisted the team with training camp towards the World Para Championships that were held in France. He said by then they had 10 athletes who were earmarked towards the build-up of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. “We went to the Paris World Championships last year, and only one athlete hit the qualification mark being Masuge. From that time, we saw Rich reaching the mark in February during a competition held in Dubai. In March, he continued with his good performance.
As such, we are now one step away from the shame of being labelled amongst the world’s worst offenders. This is a national embarrassment that demands an immediate, united response from every corner of our society. Pointing fingers is useless, we must all hold up our hands and play our part in the dealing with this matter.To our government and the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC), the call is for the to adopt decisive leadership and...