The long awaited report on Botswana’s 2012 London Olympic sojourn is expected to be released very soon. The report, which is expected to give insight into all issues surrounding Botswana’s preparation and participation at the London Olympics, is said to be complete and will be handed to the Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture.
Chief Executive Officer of the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC), Tuelo Serufho, said the report is expected to be in the hands of the BNOC before the start of the Christmas holidays.
The report, done by the BNOC’s Local Organising Committee (LOC), will be expected to also shed light into what happened during the 2012 London Games, Serufho said.
However, there is no guarantee that the report will be made public, but it is expected that the public will be given information as to what happened.
“Some of the report’s contents may be sensitive and thus will not be made public. However, we expect that the Minister will give the government and the nation feedback on the general report though he may choose not to divulge some of the contents which may be deemed sensitive,” Serufho explained.
While the BNOC CEO is privy to the contents of the report, having seen it before it was handed back to the LOC to fine tune and finalise it, he however said he could not jump the gun and discuss it.
Though no details have been forthcoming as to the contents of the report, among issues likely to be discussed in the report is the controversial issue involving the absence of Amantle Montsho’s coach during the games.
Prior to the games, the BNOC had divulged that they had arranged for Montsho’s coach to be available for her, but the coach never made it. In the aftermath of Montsho’s failure to make the medal podium during the games, there was deep disappointment among the nation when it was learned that Montsho did not have her coach at the games as was expected.
The report is also likely to look at what could have led to the BNOC’s failure to send its targeted 20 athletes team to the games. Botswana managed to send only four athletes to the games, managing to win only one medal in the process.
The situation was not helped by the fact that as many athletes incurred injuries during the preparations, more especially towards the end of the preparations as they pushed to qualify.
Among those affected by injuries related to the late push to qualify was the country’s 400 x 400 meters men’s relay as well as the country’s emerging sprinter, Yatea Kambepera.
While cagey about the contents of the report, Serufho said he expects the report to help the BNOC and its affiliates to reflect on where they could have gone wrong and to help them prepare better for future games. “
We expect to organize a workshop to present the report to our affiliates and discuss it with them during the first quarter of 2013. We will then compare the report’s recommendations with our London 2012 and beyond plan to see where we can improve our future preparations,” the BNOC CEO explained. “Together with our affiliates, we will then decide whether to adopt some of the recommendations and incorporate them into our resolutions.”
