Maun will this morning (Friday) play host to the Olympics Team home welcoming event, at Maun Sports Complex. The tourism destination becomes the second place to host the home coming celebration after the Gaborone hosted the national welcome event when the Team first arrived from Paris, France, – and was led by President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
The home coming celebrations are a collaboration by the Botswana National Olympics Committee (BNOC), Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) and Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture (MYSC), and from Maun, will take the team to Gantsi, Kang and Jwaneng.
The welcome ceremony will feature eight athletes that include Boitumelo Masilo (4*400m), Bayapo Ndori (400m), Leungo Scotch(400m), Tumo Nkape (800m), Oratile Nowe(800m), Victor Ntweng (800m/400m), Anthony Pesela (4X400m) and Kethobogile Hainguira(800m).
However, the other athletes will not form part of the team due to other engagements, as 200m gold medallist Letsile Tebogo and 4 X 400m relay finalist Collen Kebitshipi are currently at Lausanne in Switzerland for the Wanda Diamond League which commenced yesterday (Thursday August 22).
The event marked one of the great milestones in history of sports as Botswana brought home a gold medal and silver medal from the 2024 Olympics that were held in Paris, France from the 26th July 2024 to the 11th August 2024.
In an interview, BNOC Business Development and Strategy Manager Baboni Khupe said that Maun was chosen as a first stop on their planned road show set to cover the length and breadth of the country.
Khupe stated that the show has also coincided with broader sporting initiative; being the Fokotsa Dino Campaign as well as the official launch of the Matlhagola Tsela Initiative by their sister organization the BNSC.
“Additionally and fortuitously, a lot of our Olympians are natives of Maun, making it the perfect location to kick start this three-prolonged ceremony,” she said.
According to Khupe, the event will be officiated by the MYSC Minister Tumiso Rakgare, however they have also benefited from the support of Maun leadership, who will also feature on the programme of the day. Khupe noted that there is a planned motorcade to the stadium to showcase the athletes. She revealed that they will be launching Matlhagola Tsela Initiative simultaneously, with the school children participating in a variety of sporting activities
Meanwhile, among the athletes that participated at the Olympics seven of them including Ndori, Scotch, Pesela, Haingura, Ntweng, Masalalela and Nkape are from Maun Track and Field Athletics club. Ngamiland is considered as one of the regions that played a very crucial role in producing some of the best athletes including the likes of former 400m champion Amantle Montsho.
The Botswana’s Paris 2024 Olympics athletics team was made up of Tebogo (100m/200m),Ndori (400m), Scotch (400m), Kebinatshipi (400m), Masalela (800m), Haingura (800m), Ntweng (800m/400mh),Nkape (800m) and Nowe (800m). The men’s 4*400m relay team consisted of Tebogo, Ndori, Scotch, Kebinatshipi, Lee Eppie, Pesela and Masilo. Two swimmers Maxine Egner (women 100m freestyle) and Adrian Robinson (men’s100m breaststroke) also formed part of the team.
The team competed under the guidance of Head Coach Chilume Ntshwarang and Assistant Coach Dose Mosimanyane. Oabona Theetso was the nation’s team manager for the Paris 2024 Olympics while Oreeditse Marakakgoro was the Chef de Mission for the team.
