Following uncertainty over this year’s Botswana Sports Awards, Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) has finally cleared the air announcing the 19th or 26th of March 2022 as the possible award ceremony dates.
According to a press release from the commission, the awards will be a combined session for years 2020 and 2021.
Botswana sports awards are aimed at rewarding athletes who excelled in local, zonal, continental and global competitions in a yearly calendar.
According to BNSC, the decision was influenced by the limited sport activity in both 2020 and 2021 calendar years.
Due to COVID-19 induced restrictions national sport associations and athletes had little to no competitions.
“The plan is to have awards ceremonies revert to their traditional period of March/April as opposed to later in the year as has been the case over the last years. This often leads to confusion when it would appear that some athletes or teams that performed well are left out, when in fact the awards would be focusing on performances from a prior period that would have ended some seven or so months earlier,” read part of a press release.
Despite Covid-19 having wreaked havoc, this year saw some athletes rising to the occasion and dishing out best performances ever at international competitions.
Magdeline Moyengwa won a bronze medal during the 2021 African Senior Weightlifting Championships and qualified for the Olympics.
Isaac Makwala also put up outstanding performances during the Olympics together with his 4X400m relay team which went on to win a bronze medal.
Just recently, the junior athletics team also won four medals (3 gold and 1 silver) at the World Junior Championships.