On a day when FNB Botswana was announced as the title sponsor of the Botswana Golden Grand Prix, at least three top stars confirmed participation in the event.
On Friday, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Ferdinand Omanyala and Kirani James confirmed they would be competing in Botswana. The trio is expected to be just a small number from the 112 international athletes expected in the country.
The announcement of the trio is expected to add clout to the event and make Batswana salivate as to who will be next in the line-up. Jamaican sprint queen Fraser-Pryce is a 10 time women’s world champion in sprints.
‘Mommy Rocket,’ as the athlete is affectionately called is the reigning women’s 100 metres world champion. She has won this title a record five times, making her the first athlete to record such a feat in a single individual running event.
Omanyala on the other hand is regarded as one of the fastest short sprinters in the world and is Africa’s fastest man. He is the reigning men’s 100m Commonwealth Champion, two times African champion and also current African record holder in 100m.
Meanwhile, Grenada’s Kirani James is a former 400m World and Olympic champion. The athlete is one of the most recognised athletes in the discipline and many would be salivating to see him going head to head with Botswana’s own Isaac Makwala, who will be making his last appearance in the event.
Speaking in an interview, FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix stand-in Chief Organiser Tuelo Serufho says the organisers will be revealing more athletes leading to the event.
“We are currently negotiating with athletes across the world and Batswana should expect more names to be dropped in the coming days. Remember, we expect 140 athletes to take part in this event. Of these, 112 will be from abroad,” he says.
He adds that at the moment, they expect athletes from America, Europe, Asia and elsewhere in the world to grace the event. “We will also have the finest talent from Sub Saharan Africa. We have also gone far across the continent and we expect to see the best of African talent here,” he reveals.
Serufho says those who will make it to the event will have the opportunity to see Botswana’s crème de la crème of athletics competing against the best in the world. “We expect all our best athletes to be part of this event,” he says.
