Kasane hosts World strongest man

Sharon Mathala | Thursday August 4, 2016 13:50

The event, which is aired in over 72 countries and estimated to have a viewership of over 470 million, is expected to engrave Kasane as a tourist attraction on international platforms.

BTO’s Jillian Blackbeard confirmed the event. She said the crew is expected to arrive in the country next week and the competition will begin on August 13 and will run until August 20.

“We are very excited to announce that Kasane will be hosting this year’s world strongest man competition. This will be the second time the competition is hosted in Africa,” she said, adding that the first time the competition visited Africa was when it was held at the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

The event will be hosted in five different locations in Kasane. From August 13 to 16 the first heats will see 30 athletes competing for the final slots.

The grand finale will be hosted on August 20 at the Kasane International Airport, where the 10 finalists are expected to attempt to pull the Botswana Defence Force’s (BDF) C130 aircraft for an unconfirmed distance.

“As Botswana Tourism we are excited to be hosting this event. What is of note is that the event is not a spectator event. It is solely a television production.”

“Yes, the main focus is on the sport, but they will also be profiling some of the hot spots in Kasane for millions to see all over the world. The programme will continue to air for the rest of the year till the next competition in 2017,” Blackbeard said.

However there will be no participants from Botswana. The only African contestant will be from Nigeria.