TLOTLO KEBINAKGABO
Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) is currently in discussions with National Associations (NSAs) to map a forward on how athletes can be best prepared for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BNOC Tuelo Serufho has said.
BNOC alongside various NSAs halted their Olympic training camps late March just before the country effected its lockdown which was meant to curb the spread of the deadly COVID-19. Now, after being inactive to almost two months, the BNOC and NSAs are currently strategizing how athletes can be best drilled for the Tokyo Olympics which have since been postponed to next year.
“Yes we are going to organize training camps but as of now I cannot confirm when we are going to start as well as their duration since the games have been postponed to next year. One thing for sure is that we cannot keep athletes for 12 months in training camp, that is not practical,” he said in an interview with this publication. “It will also be monotonous for them to do the same thing for a prolonged period of time, it will end up being counter productive.”
The BNOC CEO said one other reason why they cannot sustain training camps for about 12 months is that they do not have enough funds to do so. “And we also do not know what is going to happen when we ask for funds from relevant authorities post this pandemic, we might find out this virus has left adverse effects,” Serufho noted.
So far, only five athletes in Nijel Amos (men’s 800m) and three female 400m athletes, Christine Botlogetswe , Galefele Moroko as well as Amantle Montsho, have qualified for the Olympics. Keamogetse Kenosi has also qualified for the games being the first ever local female boxer to do so. The country is yet to qualify top athletes like Naomi Ruele, Karabo Sibanda and Ofentse Bakwadi just to mention a few.