Boitumelo Khutsafalo
27 August 2008
The Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) is impressed with the overall performance of Botswana's representatives at this year's Olympic Games in Beijing.
Although the athletes did not bring the country's first medal as expected, their performance has not gone unnoticed.
BNOC programmes manager, Andrew Kamanga told Mmegi Sport that individual performances have shown that the athletes have done very well. He said that long-jumper, Gable Garenamotse did well in the final despite the fact that age is not on his side. "He has been a true athlete. There is nothing to say about California Molefe (400m) since he was injured," he said.
Kamanga praised Fanuel Kenosi for finishing fifth in the 200m heats despite the fact that he was participating in the Olympics for the first time. "The boy is currently under G4s sponsorship until 2012 and we hope that he will improve," he said. He added that the 800m runner, Onalenna Baloyi tried his best though crashed out in the heats after finishing fifth. He said since Baloyi was expelled from Kenya, where he was training, his performance has not been good. The athlete was expelled after he complained about the training facility. "I think that if he would have remained in Kenya, he would have done better. But the boy ran fantastic times in Europe around May this year," Kamanga said.
He expressed hope for improvement since age is still on Baloyi's side. He said the same is true of high jumper, Kabelo Kgosiemang. "Most of his opponents are around 33 and 34 years and he is only 23. He will definitely improve. He has just started training in Germany and that will help him a lot," he said.
Kamanga spoke highly of Amantle Montsho saying that she is the first Botswana woman to reach a final in the Olympics. "She ran very well although she could not sustain the explosive pace of her opponents, but it is something that she will work on," he said. He explained that BNOC will continue to invest on her and give her the support that she needs.
"It was the first time that swimmers competed at the Olympics and they have improved their personal times. Like Amantle in the 2004 Athens Olympics, they qualified through wild card and we can hope that they improve like Amantle did this year. We expect the exposure to propel them further," said Kamanga.
He hailed Khumiso Ikgopoleng, who was one bout away from getting a medal. Ikgopoleng is the first Botswana boxer to win a bout at the Olympics. He won the first two bouts and lost in the quarterfinal against a Mongolian boxer. "He is an excellent athlete as well as a sporting ambassador of Botswana.
Unfortunately age is not on his side too and I do not see him competing at the 2012 Olympics," Kamanga said. He asserted that another boxer, Thato Batshegi needs vigorous training and exposure to make him ready for the 2012 games. The athletes arrive today.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
