Gaborone meet wins World Athletics’ approval
After last year’s debacle, the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix has got its groove back, winning a ‘fourmidable’ ranking from World Athletics.
The latest ratings from the sport’s governing body scored the Gaborone event as the 4 th best out of 385 continental tour meets around the world.
Only the Tom Jones Memorial (a Challenger event in America), Kenya’s Kep Keino Classic (a Gold meet) and the MT.SAC Relays in California (a Bronze event) scored higher than the Grand Prix’s 83990.
Despite limited finances, the Glody Dube owned extravaganza was able to attract big names to this year’s edition thanks largely to a P6 million sponsorship from First National Bank.
The appearance of stars such as: Gabby Thomas, Andre de Grasse, Ferdinand Omanyala, Jerome Blake and Dalilah Muhammad meant there was much public interest. This showed in the crowd, with thousands turning up to the National Stadium for the Grand Prix, held on Sunday 26 April.
Commenting on the 4 th place ranking, the track-and-field event’s mouthpiece, Calistus Kolantsho, was all smiles, noting it was the result of much hard work and many sleepless nights.
“This means a lot because we have beaten some of the golden meets around the world; it shows we have put in some work. The meet was a success, everything was seamless: from time management, attendance, officiating and performance. It was magic!
“We hosted with a stadium in good condition and so was the warm-up track. We transported athletes well from warm-up track at UB Stadium to call room in time, so no event got delayed,” noted Kolantsho, adding they plan to start preparing for the 2027 installment around September time after they received feedback from stakeholders.
“Going into next year we should push more in terms of sponsorship and marketing – that’s what we are aiming for,” he added.
Downgraded from Gold to Silver following farcical scenes last year, when the running track was still being painted on the day of the event, organisers are hopeful of regaining their former status.
“Key components for assessment for gold vary a lot, and that include prize money, with a minimum of $10, 000. There must be at least three athletes ranked in the world’s top 50 in each event and the programme must include a minimum of 12 events with at least one jump and throw,” explained Kolantsho.
In a day of drama, one of the highlights saw Olympic champion, Thomas record a personal best in the 100m, the American accelerating to the line in 10.95 seconds to win.
It was the first time in her decorated career that the 29-year-old beat the 11-second mark.
On the men’s side, the standout race saw Canadian legends Blake and de Grasse do battle in the 100m, with Blake edging out his countryman by 0.02s.
De Grasse, a seven-time Olympic medalist bounced back in the 200m, showing his class to cruise to victory in 19.84s, the only sub 20-second time.
