What a year it has been for Botswana sports! 2024 will go down the annals of history as the year of Botswana’s sporting miracle.
For a small country, population and resources wise, Botswana punched well above her weight in the sporting arena. Here are some of the highlights of Botswana sport in the year.
Athletics
As has come to be the norm, Botswana athletics provided one of the best highlight reels for the year. 2024 was the year when Botswana finally managed to get her first Olympic gold medal. It had taken Botswana more than four decades to achieve this feat.
Making it even sweeter, the country’s record-breaking gold medal, won by Letsile Tebogo in the men’s 200m sprint, was also the first for Africa in the race. Tebogo’s recorded time of 19.46 seconds in the 200m men’s final was also the new African record on the said race.
The 21-year-old, who had also made the finals of the men’s 100m at the Paris Olympics, would later on lead the Botswana men’s 4X400m relay to a silver medal. The two medals ensured Botswana finished on position 55 in the final medal standings, a new high for the country at the Olympics.
Cricket
It was not a bad year for Botswana senior men’s national cricket team, The Baggy Blues. The team finished its season on a high, securing a spot at the Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers Africa Finals.
The Baggy Blues qualified following a second-place finish behind Nigeria at the ICC men’s T20 world cup sub regional Africa qualifier Group C tournament. The qualifiers were held in Abuja, Nigeria, from the 23rd to the 28th of November 2024.
By qualifying for the men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers Africa Finals, the Baggy Blues are now on the cusp of writing their own history. Only seven countries and seven games now stand between them and a maiden appearance at the T20 World Cup.
To qualify for their debut T20 World Cup, the Baggy Blues will have to finish in the top two positions at the Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers Africa Finals, which will be held in 2025 at a venue yet to be announced.
Football
Elsewhere, football was also on the highlights reel for Botswana’s sporting miracle of 2024. Not keen to be left behind, Botswana’s men senior national team, the Zebras, did the nation proud as they qualified for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
The qualification, which was achieved on the last day of the qualifiers, ended Botswana’s twelve year wait to once again grace the high table of African football. After a sluggish start which saw them lose their first two qualifying matches, the Zebras bounced back in style, winning back to back matches against Cape Verde before two consecutive draws against Mauritania and Egypt respectively.
The qualification means Botswana, which is expected to be under the guidance of Morena Ramoreboli, will be part of the finals which will be held in Morocco from the 21st December 2025 to the 18th January 2026.
Their qualification also means that for the first time in history, both Botswana’s men and women senior national teams will play in Afcon finals in the same year. The Mares, as the women senior football national team, will be competing in the Women Africa Cup of Nations finals, which are also slated for Morocco from the 5th to the 26th July 2025 in Morocco.
Motorsport
It was a remarkable year for Botswana motorsport, who, for the first time, can now claim to have a world champion.
It all started early in the year when Botswana’s own Kalahari Ferarri Ross Branch did the unthinkable and ended in position two at Motorsport’s biggest event, the Dakar Rally. What followed thereafter was a little miracle for Botswana.
Buoyed by the win and the massive local support, Branch, who is racing under Hero Motorsport went on to make history and become the first Motswana and first African rider to win the World Rally Raid Championship(W2RC). Interestingly, it was also the first championship for his racing stable, Hero Motor sports.
His win well-deserved win was the reward for his persistence and passion for motorcycle racing. Following his Dakar Rally exploits, Branch became a regular in the finishing line across all races, culminating with his clinching of the W2RC.
Following that, the W2RC headed to l for the he finished in 5th position BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Transibérico held in Portugal, finished 5th again at Argentina’s Desafío Ruta 40 and once again managed to finish the popular Rallye du Maroc, where he was clinched the W2RC.
