Weightlifting Federation targets one Olympics Qualifier spot
The Weightlifting Federation of Botswana is currently rallying behind Magdeline Moyengwa in her quest to qualify for the 2021 Olympics scheduled for Tokyo, Japan. Though it has been a quiet year, when it comes to Olympic qualifying events due to Covid- 19 pandemic disruption, the weightlifting federation has already hit the ground running in anticipation of competitions next year since qualifying was extended after the games were postponed to August 2021. Monyengwa, who is the sole weightlifting athlete who stands a chance of making it to the quadrennial games, has been on rigorous training camp since November and is expected to break for holidays on the 22nd of December.
“We have been through a lot because we have been on and off in terms of training and it’s a disadvantage because in weightlifting we have to train twice a day especially when you are preparing for the Olympics,” said Monyengwa
The 19 year- old stands a chance to qualify in her 58kg category. For her to better her chances of qualifying she has to compete in at least two gold, silver and bronze status competitions respectively. These are competitions set by the International Weightlifting Federation and are highly ranked and sanctioned, therefore athletes get to accumulate points rankings from participating and winning. With tournaments either continental or global, athletes have to win or be in the top three in order to at least get a wild card to the Olympics. “Since we got to camp there is improvement on me so if we can have another camp like this next year I’m sure I can qualify. Right now, the world federation hasn’t opened the rankings since we haven’t competed,” she said. According to secretarygeneral of Weightlifting Federation Botswana, Alex Rankgwe, most competitions have been cancelled due to the corona virus. They have instead decided on a training camp in order to be ready anytime.
“Dates for qualifiers keep on changing, especially that other countries keep having rising numbers of Covid- 19,” he said.