Speaking during a media briefing this week, the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) president, Moses Bantsi, said it was unfortunate that the 2024 edition was not held due to challenges faced. He, however, said they expect the event to return next year. “You will be updated when everything is in place but we are hopeful it will be back under a different name. The event will still be part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold,” he said. Meanwhile, Bantsi said they submitted a bid during the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) council meeting in Douala, Cameroon, to host the 2026 Africa Senior Championships. Ghana won the bid by beating Botswana by 12 votes to three votes. “We wanted to show other African countries that we know how to host. Unfortunately, the bid went to Ghana, but we did not lose, we have been awarded the rights to host the 2028 edition.
The good thing is that we went to Cameroon with a mandate from the government that if we were to lose the 2026 edition, we should go for the 2028 edition,” he said. Bantsi said the BAA has submitted a pre-bid to host the 2026 World Athletics Relays. He said they met the deadline, which was July 10, 2024. “Hopefully, with the backing of the government and other stakeholders, we will be able to host the relays. Before the relays, we need to host many international events. That is why we wanted to host the 2026 CAA Africa Senior Championships edition so that we prepare for the relays,” he said. Bantsi said they expect the World Athletics Relays to bid in September and the host of the relays will be announced in November. He said the BAA is also interested in hosting the Southern Region championships. In other updates, Bantsi said the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have already passed in terms of preparations. He said the focus should now be on the Los Angeles 2028 and 2032 Olympics. “The government has done a lot in terms of team preparations.
