Gaborone International Meet (GIM) has appointed Vivian Gungarum from Mauritius as a Technical Delegate, in line with World Athletics requirements and standards.
This was revealed by GIM Acting General Manager California Molefe when giving an update on the status of the meet this Tuesday. He also announced that the meet is now included in the World Athletics calendar of events and has been given the status of the Continental Tour-Bronze Meeting, putting it at the same level as the Sydney Track Classic in Australia and Japan’s Denka Challenge Cup.
The date for the 2021 Meet has been confirmed as 24th April 2021 as allocated on the World Athletics Calendar.
“World Athletics demands that we appoint a World Athletics certified Technical Delegate to guide the technical aspects of the Meet which is why we appointed Gungarum,” Molefe said.
He further said they’ve requested him to send them a checklist of technical requirements. Gungarum is also scheduled to visit the country soon and during his stay, he’ll train local Technical Officials.
“To ensure knowledge transfer and also to empower locals, he will be assisted by Thomas Ndadziila and they will be working together throughout the training and during his official duty of overseeing the technical aspect of the event,” said Molefe.
The General Manager further said there are certain things they still needed to do to meet all the requirements of a continental Bronze Meet.
He said the national stadium meets most of the requirements but there are a few upgrades needed before the stadium can be given a thumbs up.
“All that is needed has been shared with the relevant authorities,” he said, adding that they’ve also secured the University of Botswana Stadium as a warm-up facility.
“The UB stadium is adequate for all disciplines, and in close proximity to the main venue,” Molefe said.
The GIM is the brainchild of Olympian Glody Dube, who founded it in 2011 under the name Sports View International Meet.
As a way of rebranding and based on a norm of naming such meets after the name of the host cities, the event was then renamed Gaborone International Meet in 2017.