Botswana’s long distance runners are bracing themselves for the national cross country finals which have been slated for Saturday.
The finals come after a series of cross country races which were held recently in preparation for the highly anticipated cross country championships in Malawi. The winners of the National Cross Country Championships on Saturday will be selected to represent the country at the upcoming Blantyre, Malawi games.
This has been confirmed by Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) Vice President, Glody Dube in an interview last week with The Telegraph. “We are currently preparing our long distance runners for the Southern African regional cross country race which will be held from February 27 to 28 in Blantyre, Malawi.”
Since the beginning of the year, Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) has adopted the World Athletics Federation (WAF) standards of starting races in the afternoon instead of the morning in order to get the athletes acclimatised to change of racing times. Prior to this, races were started in the early morning which came as a disadvantage for local racers when they got to international races.
The winners from Blantyre will stand a high chance to secure a position in the national team which will represent the country at the world cross country championships which will be held next month in Guiyang, China.
The races are expected to see some of Botswana’s long distance runners battle it out for the number one spot in order to earn a position for the Malawi race. In the female category athletes such as Mema Tiango and Gaone Bathoeng are expected to outrun themselves to secure their spot in the national team which will be expected to represent the country in Malawi.
In the men’s category, fierce competition is expected between Kaelo Mosalagae and Sesebo Matlapeng who will be competing amongst themselves to secure a podium finish.
