U/20 Athletics team leave for Peru ahead of World Junior Championships
After watching their seniors shine at the Paris Olympics earlier this month, the country’s next generation of athletes now have their chance to star on the world stage.
Dreaming of more gold and glory, Team Botswana have assembled an exciting 12-member squad for the U/20 World Athletics Championships in Lima, Peru, with the enthusiastic youngsters jetting off for South America earlier today (23 August).
The country will be represented at the global event, set for 27 to 31 August, in the 200m, 400m, 4x400m relays (including the mixed) and women’s 4x100m relay.
One of the big hopes for a medal on the ladies’ side is 18-year-old Sethunya Majama.
The teenage sprinter goes into the Championships in fine form, having recently set a season’s best of 24.17s to qualify for the 200m.
Majama is also expected to be part of the 4x100m relay team and boasts a best time of 11.94s.
A semi-finalist in the 100m at the Africa Senior Championships in Cameroon earlier this year, where she also featured in the relay, the youngster is no stranger to high-profile competitions.
Another one to look out for is the impressive Ernest Kumeva, whose busy schedule includes the 200m and 400m double as well as the 400m men’s relay.
The 19-year-old Etsha starlet started the season on fire, impressing in Francistown at the opening BAA Meet back in January, where he ran a then personal best 47.1s in the 400m, smashing the required 47.6s qualifying time for the World Junior Championships.
The Francistown Athletics Club (FAC) athlete was just getting started, clocking 45.89s at the All-Africa Games two months later.
A gold medalist in 4x400m relay from the 2023 CAA Africa U20 Championships in Zambia, Kumeva knows what it takes to stand atop the podium.
Divided into six males and six females, the rest of Team BW includes: Thabang Monngathipa, Keorapetse Oreokame, Lefatshe Seleka, Justice Oratile, Fredrick Mathathi, Warona Thonisani, Same Mhutsiwa, Wedu Matiwe, Ame Bogoma and Kelebonye Otela.
With focus already switching to the next Olympic cycle, Los Angeles 2028, Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) is working hard to groom, nurture and integrate this junior team into the seniors as the country targets five gold medals in LA.
Chatting to Voice Sport, Head Coach, Nico Manyepedza said he was confident his young charges will have a real impact in Peru.
“The team is prepared. Even our performance in training shows they are ready; we’re just waiting for the day of action. Their times are promising when compared to other juniors who went to the same competition previously. Some of our athletes qualified for these championships with very high standards,” mentioned Manyepedza.
The country has a proud record at the U/20 World Championships.
It was on this stage, in Nairobi, Kenya three years ago, that a then 18-year-old Letsile Tebogo announced himself to the world, winning gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m.
Anthony Pesela and the men’s 4x400m relay also bagged gold in Kenya, a haul that saw Botswana finish 7th out of 110 nations.
In Cali, Columbia 2022, Tebogo repeated his gold and silver success, his heroics sufficient enough to secure a 14th position in the overall medal standings.
“We want to imitate the trend of performance which is well known here in Botswana. Remember, we are going there after an incredible performance from our seniors at the Olympics and it is a motivation for the youngsters. If they go there with the winning mentality, they will be good; we anticipate medals because we are going there to compete. We need those medals, and the team is also looking forward to that because the plan is to push into the finals with good personal best times and everything will fall into place!” concluded Manyepedza.
