BNOC TO CALL OFF CAMP
LOC to meet with affected federations
FOLLOWING the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to next year due to the outbreak the COVID-19, Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) is mulling the idea of calling off camp.
International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe, took a decision on Tuesday to reschedule the Olympic Games to the summer of 2021. The decision was made to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.
Likewise, BNOC held an emergency meeting on Wednesday and the Local Organising Committee ( LOC) has been tasked with meeting with management from the affected sporting codes to deliver the outcome of the meeting before an official announcement is made.
Voice Sport has been reliably informed that while many agreed that it made sense to break camp due to cost implications, federations are, however, worried about their athletes who are likely to lose form.
Athletes who have already qualified and many still chasing their qualification berth went in to camp in November last year. The camp comprises athletes from athletics, boxing, weight-lifting and swimming.
Speaking to Voice Sport on Wednesday evening, a worried BNOC Chief Executive Officer, Tuelo Serufho, said an official announcement will be made after LOC has met with concerned federations. Serufho told Voice Sport that they find themselves between a rock and a hard place as they currently don’t know whether IOC will extend the qualifying period, or what lies in store for those who’ve already qualified.
According to the previous schedule, athletics and boxing qualifiers were to go on until the end of June while judo and swimming were scheduled up until the end of July.
Serufho said BNOC is worried that athletes will lose form since there will be no competitions unless the coronavirus scare subsides.
“What are we going to do to sustain their performance since they are not allowed to train as a team?” Serufho asked rhetorically.
He revealed to Voice Sport that due to the suspension of sporting activities, they had to cancel their plans of sending athletes to a High Performance Center in South Africa.
“Some of our athletes were scheduled to go for a training session in Europe at the end of June,” he said.
Over the weekend, two athletes - Baboloki Thebe and Onkabetse Nkobolo - were involved in a car accident after they sneaked out of camp for a boozy night out.
Quizzed on measures they have in place to ensure that all athletes follow their coaches’ training programmes to remain fit and disciplined, Serufho could only say they will discuss the issue with Federations.
“Botswana Athletics Association is currently investigating the incident involving those two athletes and they are expected to give BNOC a full report,” said Serufho.
Botswana is still looking to add to her only Olympic success - a 2012 Silver medal won by 800m sprinter, Nijel Amos, at the London Summer Olympics. The 2021 Olympics offer the nation another opportunity, a rare but greatly desired podium finish.