The event was meant to give athletes an opportunity to gauge themselves ahead of an action packed athletics season.
Despite being the first event, some fast times were registered with Thapelo Wayne Monaiwa proving that he was back by claiming the 150m senior men’s dash with a time of 15.52 sec.
Monaiwa faced strong contention from Pako Seribe and Thuto Masasa. Monaiwa, a long jumper, was making a comeback from a knee injury that kept him in and out of the doctor’s treatment room last season. Collen Kebinatshipi of the Jwaneng Athletics Club ran the fastest 300m, clocking 32.97sec.
The 400m specialist had a good season last year, which included clinching a gold medal in the mixed relay during the Africa Senior Championships. He was part of the junior team that competed at the 2022 Cali World Under-20 Championships.
Leungo Matlhaku opened her season with a 60m clocking 7.55sec. Norman Chibane made a comeback, winning the senior men's long jump with a 7.08m jump. Chibane has been nursing an injury, which he picked from the 2021 Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) National Championships. However, it was a slow start for Anthony Pesela in the 600m as he finished third.
The Maun-based sprinter was a shadow of himself at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games when he finished in position seven during the 400m heat. The athlete now has a lot of work to redeem himself and return to the sparkling form he displayed during the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya in 2021. Speaking to Sport Monitor, Pesela said last year was tough especially after taking the COVID-19 vaccine. “I felt weak during individual races because of the booster shot, which was heavy for me.
I only performed better in the relay after recovery. But I will correct all this moving forward but today was bad because I had just arrived in the morning by bus from Maun. I left Maun last night because I was struggling to secure bus fare,” he said. Pesela said his plan is to run 200m this season because he feels he has run many 400m races, which are now heavy on him. Meanwhile, Monaiwa said the plan is to build speed before opening his long jump season because speed is an important factor to jump further. “Things went according to plan; my performance matched my training. Last season, my challenge was speed but I was good in other elements of jumping.
I competed at the Commonwealth and Africa Games with an injury,” he said. Kebinatshipi started his preparations in October and was forced to take a break due to Form 5 examinations but never stopped upon completion. He said last season was exciting, where he managed a Personal Best (PB) and this season he is looking to doing something special. “I have relocated to Lobatse in order to train properly without disturbance. Last season was an eye opener. I competed in individual races during the World Under-20 in Cali.
So I now have the experience. This season I do not want pressure; I want to focus on getting better as an athlete. For his part, long jumper, Chibane said he was not happy with his preparations because he did not have access to the gym room. He said the injury occurred when he was about to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. “Rehabilitation needs someone to have access to resources but I depended on my coach, Chilume Ntshwarang. It has not been easy but I think I will bounce back and fight for a spot at the Africa Games,” he said. BAA sport development officer-technical, Larona Koosimile said he was impressed with the results of the competition.
He said the 60m race indicated that the sprinters are in good shape. “The 60m results are suggesting that our 4x100m relay team will be strong this season. I expect good results from other athletes besides Letsile Tebogo. We just hope the youth and the seniors go back and train harder,” he said. Koosimile said the BAA is ready to support athletes and competitions that clubs are hosting. He said the World Athletics has come up with a new ranking system, which means all the events will be used as qualifiers.
He said BAA has four series as build up to the National Championships. For his part, the event organiser, Ntshwarang was impressed with how the event went. “This is our debut event and there is nothing more that I could have expected beyond this. The turn up was good considering that this is a season opener. Athletes have shown that they mean business so we are looking forward to fast times and more athletes qualifying for major competitions,” Ntshwarang said.
