AMANTLE MONTSHO STRIKES AGAIN

Local 400m sensation Amantle Montsho is a complex individual. She has had her fair share of awkward moments during high profile events recently. Perhaps one of the most successful athletes to ever come out of Botswana, the former 400m world champion left sports officials scratching their heads at a recent Tokyo 2021 send-off ceremony. The awkward moment happened after Chef de Mission Tshepo Sitale finished his speech and the world famous athlete was called to the platform to make a pledge on behalf of the team. Minister Tumiso Rakgare, sports officials and the media quickly realised that Montsho was not going to do such a thing and the event, which was streamed live on social media, immediately turned awkward. Nne gole thata goo hale.

Following the awkward moment that was vintage Amantle, it was Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) chairman Marumo Morule’s turn to give closing remarks. “This does not give me a lot of confidence,” Morule said referring to the Amantle snub. However, this was not the first time that the painfully shy athlete had snubbed an appearance during a high profile sports event. Some three years back Montsho froze on the floor and had to leave the stage at the IWG Women In Sport conference when being interviewed by famous South African sports journalist, Carol Tshabalala. Nevertheless, it is not only Amantle who has had several awkward encounters when the spotlight shone on her. The culture of painfullyshy and socially-awkward athletes is rampant in the local sports industry. Ka mahoko a mangwe, batshamiki ba tlhwatlhwa ba tlhokana le go rutiwa dilo tse. Meanwhile, local athletes have recently gone to war with local sports authorities with some going as far as accusing the Ministry of Sport of bias towards football sporting code. High profile athletes have since spoken out against what they deem as unfair treatment by local sports authorities. Some of these athletes include Isaac Makwala, Amantle Montsho and Kabelo Dambe.