The Voice (Francistown)
Monnakgotla Mojaki
22 April 2008
Francistown — Ever since Botswana started participating in the Olympic Games that are staged once every four years, the country has never won a medal. This scenario is worrying all the sports fraternities, especially the Botswana National Olympics Committee (BNOC).
Its Publicity Secretary, Solly Reikeletseng, has confirmed their worries and attributed the failures to a number of factors.
BNOC is still awaiting other athletes to try their luck and qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The final number of athletes going to China can only be known in June. This means there will be only two months for preparations of the athletes to be in shape save for the ones that have qualified early, which will give them a slight advantage. Reikeletseng told Voice Sport that there is need to start preparations for the Olympics with at least eight years to go.
"I will only be happy with the preparations when we start preparing for the 2016 Olympics now not in 2015. You need a full eight years to prepare at a larger scale and narrow down to the final team in the last four years. Our situation now is we started preparing at a larger scale four years ago and only narrowed down now. Preparations also have to be fully funded," Reikeletseng charged.
BNOC does not, however, have a set number of athletes that they want to send to this years Olympics which also makes it difficult to set a target of medals they want to come from Beijing with.
"We do not have a target of how many people we want to send; the number is limited to how many athletes will qualify. So far, athletes are working on qualifying and we will know the final number by June 2008.
We all hope for gold medals but as Batswana we want to set realistic targets and we are aiming for two medals. What is key is that our athletes have to show an improvement and potential in being developed." Reikeletseng told Voice Sport.
At the Athens 2004 Olympics, Botswana had sent 10 athletes according to Reikeletseng and they came without even a single medal and this has been the scenario since Botswana started sending athletes at the Olympics. The only notable positive from the Olympics was at Sidney in 2000 where Glody Dube managed to be in the top eight in the men's 800 meter race.
The BNOC mouthpiece, however, says Botswana has been doing well at the Commonwealth games where significant growth and achievement was recorded.
"Botswana first participated at the Commonwealth Games in 1972 and in 1986 at the same games staged in Scotland; Botswana managed a bronze in the ladies bowling, through Barbra Anderson. The Commonwealth is made up of former British colonies and the platform is almost the same as the Olympics. It is BNOC's mandate to also take teams to the Commonwealth Games," Reikeletseng explained to Voice Sport.
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