Injury kills Mogopa’s Olympics dream
Bad luck seems to be following Gavin Mogopa when it comes to competing at the biggest sports pinnacle, the Olympics. Ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gamess, the judoka suffered an injury, causing him to lose his spot. Now, the same injury is keeping him on the sidelines ahead of the upcoming Olympics in Paris.
Mogopa was one of the late Sensei Kesuike Itsubo’s students. Itsubo tragically died in an incident on October 9, 2014, while climbing Table Mountain in Cape Town. Speaking from his base in Cardiff, Wales, Mogopa revealed that he lost his qualification for the 2020 Olympics three months before the event due to his injury. Unable to compete, he also lost his ranking position.
“I picked up an injury during the training camp leading up to the games. The Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) assisted with surgery, but the support stopped when I travelled to further my studies, so basically, I did not complete rehabilitation and I did not go for a check up after nine months,” he explained.
Mogopa decided to move abroad and focus on his studies after the injury. He planned to attempt to qualify for Paris 2024, but that has not materialised. Now, he will aim to qualify for the next edition in four years.
“It means I should start a fresh cycle and that I might self-sponsor too. Qualifying for Paris could have worked out easily, but probably you know that our national governing body (federations and associations) and the BNOC are complicated to work with,” he added.
Judo coach, Rene William, explained that the judo qualification process for
the Olympics is lengthy. “Every athlete has to participate in some competitions in the world judo tours, which are the Grand Slam, Grand Prix, African Championships, World Championships, Africa Open, and European Open,” he outlined.
William highlighted that by participating in these events, athletes gain points to increase their position in the Olympic ranking list and strive for direct or continental qualification. However, due to financial constraints, judokas did not attend many competitions, causing their rankings to drop.
“For Paris and according to the world ranking and lack of funds, the best Botswana judoka is Tumiso Phuthego, who attained seventh position at the recent African Games. We are trying to push with the support of BNSC and BNOC to see if he can get the continental qualification,” William explained.
He further stated that they are looking forward to the Senior African Championships set for April 23 in Cairo, Egypt, and the African Open scheduled for May in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. They are hopeful of securing funds to participate in these games.