Mikia Kalati
THE Lesotho Amateur Athletics Association (LAAA) is working around the clock to ensure athletes qualify for next year’s Commonwealth Games to be staged in Australia.
The LAAA has until December this year to submit its list of athletes that would have met the qualifying standards for the games.
LAAA Public Relations Officer, Sejanamane Maphathe, this week told the Lesotho Times that they had identified a number of races in South Africa to use as a platform to secure qualification for local athletes.
“Athletics South Africa has a number of events that will be used as qualifiers for the Commonwealth Games and we will explore that platform for our athletes to secure their tickets for Australia,” Maphathe said.
“This is a chance for us to get things on track after poor performances by our athletes in recent international competitions.”
“The marathon runners will get their qualifying campaign underway at this month’s OR Tambo Marathon in Bloemfontein,” the LAAA PRO told this publication.
“We want to see an improvement going forward because we have not done well on the international stage in recent years. We will have a mix of young and experienced runners.”
Maphathe also said they were keen on assisting sprinter Mosito Lehata to rediscover his best form now that he is back in the country from an Olympic Scholarship in Mauritius.
“If we can get funding, we will get him (Lehata) to compete in good races because he does not have competition here at home.
“We believe that some of the competitions in South Africa can be good for him.”
Meanwhile, LAAA will hold a special conference which will result in the election of a new president.
Outgoing president, Pati Mareka, who replaced Mokebe Maketela in 2013, is likely to stand for re-election for a second term.
