- Clocked 44.61 to beat Anthony Pesela (45.78) and Ditiro Nzamani (46.61) in tightly contested 400m battle
- Became second Motswana athlete to qualify for prestigious event after Letsile Tebogo early this year
GAZETTE REPORTER
Botswana’s 400m track runner, Bayapo Ndori, has qualified for the highly-anticipated World Athletics Championships billed for Budapest, Hungary in August.
This comes after his exceptional performance at the recent Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) track and field series at the National Stadium in Gaborone over the weekend.
Product of hard work and discipline
Ndori won the 6-heat race after clocking 44.61 seconds which was also his personal best (PB), beating Anthony Pesela (45.78) and Ditiro Nzamani (46.61) respectively in a tightly contested 400m battle.
He became the second local athlete to qualify for the prestigious event following Letsile Tebogo who qualified early this year.
In a post-race interview with Gazette Sports, Ndori said he was delighted to have qualified for the World Championships early as this will allow him to prepare more fully instead of chasing qualification.
“I am very happy with my performance and honestly did not expect it,” he said. “I attribute my performance to the hard work that I have been putting into training during my off season.
“I never took a break during the holidays, hence I consider myself a product of hard work and discipline. This will help me to prepare more fully for the championships, more so that I won’t be under any pressure of chasing qualification. That’s the beauty of qualifying early.
Teamwork
He added that there is need to work hard as a team as they often push each other to their best in their quest to qualify more athletes, especially for the relay teams. “Now that I have qualified does not mean that I am done,” Ndori said. I still have to work hard and push other athletes so that they also qualify.
“It’s all about teamwork. Without my teammates I wouldn’t have qualified. We are going to continue working as a team so we form a formidable side in both individual and team events.”
For his part, BAA Vice President Administration, Oabona Theetso, said they are aiming to qualify at least eight athletes (5 men and 3 women) and all relay teams. “We are hoping to qualify a good number of athletes for Budapest, hence our efforts to host monthly track and field series locally,” he said.
“We are also banking on the Botswana Golden Grand Prix next month where our athletes should make use of home-ground advantage.”
Preps for forthcoming events
Ndori will be making his second appearance at the World Championships after his debut in Oregon, USA last year where he eventually became the only Motswana to make it to the finals.
He departed for a two-week training camp in US on Monday alongside teammates Letsile Tebogo, Leungo Scotch and Zibani Ngozi under the guidance of coach Kebonyemodisa Mosimanyane.