Eighty women from 19 countries attended the championship. Modise lost at the semi-finals and lost again in a fight for the bronze medal, to finish in position five. Nogampe lost at the quarter-finals and lost again in the repecharge round, to finish in position seven. She suffered an elbow and after x-ray, it was established that it was the extension of the ligaments. The team coach, William Matike, told SportMonitor that the two judokas did their best.
He said although they did not get a medal, they learnt a lot from the competition. “As a coach, it is always difficult to finish a competition without winning one medal. But the judokas learnt something, specifically Modise who was making her debut at this level. Experience is one of the capital things to compete in international level. Taking part in this competition and intercontinental competitions will give more experience to our athletes if we want to see them challenging other athletes. I took notes and I will keep on working with my team for future competitions. You know that experience is the main problem in Botswana sport. There is lack of participation in international competitions by our athletes,” Matike said.
He said they cannot expect athletes to win medals in major competitions if they cannot challenge their opponents during some meetings or competitions. “Sometimes it is frustrating for both athletes and coaches. But we are optimistic about the new guidelines and visions of the Ministry of Sport and Arts (MOSA) as well as the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) and the Botswana National Olympic Committee (NOC),” he said.
Speaking to SportMonitor, Modise said she learnt many things from the Championships especially the importance of being mentally strong. “My coach once told me that if you are not mentally strong before a fight, you have already lost a fight. I also learnt that I should train harder. It means I should now go back and fix a lot of things in my training. I met many women who were physically and mentally strong,” she said. Modise said she had no idea what to expect at the African Open Championships. She said the plan for this year is to compete more, gain experience and courage, one day she will bring home a medal. Modise said that is also the only way for her to qualify for Olympics and also win an Olympic medal. Another judoka, Nogampe said her expectations moving forward is to be given an opportunity to compete more in order to gain experience. She said although in some instances they do not bring medals, they learn a lot from such competitions. “Attempting to qualify for Olympics is not going to be an easy thing, but we have to do our beat,” Nogampe said.
Algeria finished in position one with two gold medals, three silver and seven bronze medals to make a total of 15 medals. The United States of America settled for second position with two gold medals and two silver medals while Islamic Republic of Iran finished in the third position with two gold medals and one silver medal. Botswana finished the competition in position 16.
