Ketlogetswe off to Germany

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Tuesday June 11, 2013 00:00

The 400m specialist flew out to Berlin yesterday to link up with his agent who has organised some competitions in two months'time.Ketlogetswe is a bright prospect for the World Championships that will be hosted by Russia in Moscow later this year.Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) public relations officer (PRO) Ipolokeng Ramatshaba confirmed Ketlogetswe's engagement.

'Thapelo flew out to Germany where he will be taking part in a few athletics competitions. He is working with an agent who is assisting with that,' Ramatshaba told Mmegi Sport.Some of the top athletics championships in Germany include the PSD Bank Meeting, the Internationales Hochsprung Meeting, Internationals Leicht Athletik Meeting and EWE Athletics.Ramatshaba said Ketlogetswe would take part in as many competitions to enhance his qualification chances. He added that the association would back more local athletes to participate in international competitions in an effort to prepare them for the World Championships.The championships are to be held in Moscow on August 10-18.

Ketlogetswe holds a record of 46,17 secs obtained in Orapa on August 6, 2008. He won bronze with the 4x100 relay team at the All Africa Games in Maputo, beating the national record in the 39,09 secs. He ran 200m at the 2008 World Junior Championships. Ketlogetswe will be buoyed by his recent exploits that saw him win the 400m national championships with a time of 46,50 (manual timing). He went on to win silver in the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) southern region meet a fortnight ago after finishing in 46,65 secs. He then took part in the 4x4 relay in which Botswana won gold with a time of 3,47,01.

Meanwhile, the local organising committee for the Mascom Phikwe National Marathon is wrapping up preparations. The annual event takes place on Saturday.This year's addition will have a 15 km race for juniors, as well as 10 km and a 4km fun run.The main event, the 42,2 km race, for both men and women, carries P25,000 prize money.The second prize is P15,000 and bronze winners will pocket P7,500. The marathon starts and ends at Bosele hotel.Ramatshaba said the idea was to see more athletes make the cut for the World Championships and other IAAF events.